Donald Trump wants to bring back one of America’s most feared prisons—Alcatraz. In a recent social media post, the former president called for the island prison to be reopened and expanded to house the nation’s most dangerous criminals.
“When we were a more serious nation, we didn’t hesitate to lock up the most violent offenders far from society,” Trump wrote. “That’s how it should be again.” His proposal would involve cooperation between federal agencies to rebuild the facility, which was shut down in 1963 for being too costly.
Alcatraz, nicknamed “The Rock,” was once home to legendary criminals like Al Capone, who was imprisoned for tax evasion after years of evading prosecution for his gangster activities. Another infamous inmate, Robert Stroud, earned the nickname “Birdman of Alcatraz” for his studies on canaries—though he was far from a model prisoner.
Perhaps the most mysterious chapter in Alcatraz’s history was the 1962 escape of Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers, who crafted an elaborate plan involving dummy heads and a makeshift raft. Their fate remains unknown.
Trump’s vision for a revived Alcatraz raises big questions: Could it really deter crime? Or is it just a dramatic throwback to an era of maximum-security isolation?
