On Sunday, Donald Trump announced his plans to reopen Alcatraz as a maximum security prison to institutionalize America’s “vicious, violent and repeat Criminal Offenders.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, it’s possible he got the idea while — wait for it — watching Escape From Alcatraz at Mar-a-Lago on a local PBS-affiliated channel.
The Hollywood Reporter surmises that Trump may have watched Escape From Alcatraz, a 1978 film starring Clint Eastwood as a runaway prisoner from the high security penitentiary on WLRN, a PBS affiliated channel which services South Florida. Escape From Alcatraz was broadcast three times over the weekend, twice on Saturday and once more the following morning. Trump posted his statement on Truth Social just before 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, revealing his plans to “lock up the most dangerous criminals.” It should go without saying that the irony is striking, considering Trump’s current efforts to PBS.
“America has been plagued by vicious, violent and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm… That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ.”
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Later, Trump told reporters he views Alcatraz as an important symbol of the past. “Right now, it’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting… It sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful, and strong and miserable. Weak. It’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting.”
Maintaining Alcatrez became both financially and architecturally unsustainable, leading to the prison’s closure in 1963. It later reopened as a tourist attraction in 1973. Today, Alcatraz Island is managed by the National Park Service and attracts up to one million visitors annually, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
US Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III stated that the BOP plans to “pursue all avenues” to achieve Trump’s plan. “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,” he further revealed.
