Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
Many of Donald Trump’s second-term policy proposals sound like something a kid would come up with when asked, “What would you do if you were president?” When a child says something like, “Make Canada the 51st state!” or “Check out the gold in Fort Knox!,” we can all chuckle and move on. But unfortunately, Trump is actually president, so we all have to entertain his ideas, no matter how ludicrous.
The latest is Trump’s demand to turn Alcatraz back into a prison, which he announced on Truth Social on Sunday. Naturally, Trump isn’t just planning on sending “America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders” to the facility on an island in San Francisco Bay. He vowed to Make Alcatraz Great Again by reopening a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” prison.
Sometimes, Trump’s dumb proposals are based in some not entirely unreasonable idea. For example, American leaders have wanted to exert greater control over Greenland for years; they just stopped short of threatening an imperialistic takeover. This is not one of those situations. Before Sunday, no one was talking about reopening Alcatraz. Trump suggested Alcatraz closed because America is now soft on crime and happy to let “Serial Offenders … spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets,” despite the existence of our rather elaborate mass incarceration system. In reality, Alcatraz was closed in 1963 because it’s just way too expensive to operate a prison on an island, as the Federal Bureau of Prisons website explains:
On March 21, 1963, USP Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation … because the institution was too expensive to continue operating. An estimated $3–5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison (in 1959 the daily per capita cost at Alcatraz was $10.10 compared with $3.00 at USP Atlanta). The major expense was caused by the physical isolation of the island — the exact reason islands have been used as prisons throughout history. This isolation meant that everything (food, supplies, water, fuel …) had to be brought to Alcatraz by boat. For example, the island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.
The National Park Service has maintained the site since Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972. It opened to visitors the following year, and since then, it’s become one of NPS’s most popular sites, as Nancy Pelosi, who represents the area in the U.S. House, noted on X:
Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one. https://t.co/ALKXZLWlzO
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 5, 2025
Reopening Alcatraz would clearly be absurdly expensive and logistically difficult. In addition to addressing the issues that led to the prison being closed in the first place, the Trump administration would have to figure out how to secure congressional funding, shut down a popular tourist site, transfer control from the National Park Service back to the Bureau of Prisons, and build a new and improved prison complex on the island.
Nevertheless, William K. Marshall III, the new director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, has to at least pretend to take this impossible proposal seriously. Here’s what he said on Monday, according to ABC News:
The Bureau of Prisons will vigorously pursue all avenues to support and implement the President’s agenda … I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps. USP Alcatraz has a rich history. We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice. We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.
What makes this all the more ridiculous is that Trump can’t clearly explain his motivation for reopening Alcatraz. Later on Sunday, Trump told reporters the idea just came to him, rambled about “radicalized judges” who want due process for migrants, then said, “It’s long been a symbol, Alcatraz, of whatever it is. I mean, it’s a sad symbol, but it’s a symbol of law and order.”
Reporter: Where did you get the idea for reopening Alcatraz?
Trump: Just an idea I had. It’s long been a symbol, Alcatraz. It’s a sad symbol but it’s a symbol of law and order. pic.twitter.com/NKzGrdmGqh
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 5, 2025
On Monday, Trump mused that Alcatraz has a lot of contradictory “qualities that are interesting.” He also noted that attempted escapees were found with “shark bites,” which we know is the president’s most-feared way to die. (The Bureau of Prisons says the idea that shark-infested waters make escape impossible is actually a myth.)
Trump on Alcatraz: “It sorta represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable, weak — it’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting.” pic.twitter.com/3dpH5Hicac
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 5, 2025
But I think we all know how Trump got this idea. Much like his ill-fated attempt to steal the original Declaration of Independence from the National Archives, it was probably inspired by a Nicolas Cage movie. Maybe the silver lining here is that Trump hasn’t directed NIH researchers to find a way for him to swap faces with John Travolta.
