# Trump Proposes to Reopen Alcatraz Prison **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 5, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886 "2025-05-05T03:22:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/1 "2025-05-05T03:22:10Z")
The inescapable island is coming back! _Well maybe_. The concrete is spalling and crumbling. I saw a documentary a few years ago. A spoon could scrap out a hole. That’s why it was closed. The housing area for the guards families was in bad shape. That documentary interviewed a woman that grew up there in the 1940’s. I think parts of the prison would have to be torn down and rebuilt. You can’t repair bad concrete. > **[Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz to house "America's most ruthless and...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-alcatraz-prison-reopen-truth-social-california/)** > > Alcatraz was a notorious former prison on an island off California that housed some famous gangsters like Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly and Alvin Karpis. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/2 "2025-05-05T03:23:37Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The concrete is spalling and crumbling Sounds exactly like every other Trump property on the planet. So, why not? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/3 "2025-05-05T03:29:15Z")
The prison board thought Alcatraz was too expensive to repair in the 1960’s. The cost now would be even worse. Isn’t there strict guidelines on cell size and living conditions in a prison? Reopening any prison would require meeting those standards. I know the Alcatraz tour is popular with tourists. Probably makes significant money. > [@](#): > > In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the island where Alcatraz sits on was included as part of a new National Park Service site. The island opened to tourists in the fall of 1973 and has become one of the most popular National Park Service sites. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/4 "2025-05-05T03:32:25Z")
It’s just the same performative nonsense Trump likes to engage in. There’s no actual compelling prison-related reason to reactivate Alcatraz as a prison, it’s just a symbol of an inescapable prison that sounds a lot more macho to some people than “USP Florence ADMAX” (the Supermax prison in Florence, Co, where the country’s worst inmates are kept). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/5 "2025-05-05T03:36:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Isn’t there strict guidelines on cell size and living conditions in a prison? Like that matters to Trump and his simps? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/6 "2025-05-05T03:42:42Z")
I suspect it would be cheaper to build a new high security prison in another location. Tearing down the worst parts of Alcatraz would be difficult. All the debris would require removing by barge. Then supplies to rebuild would require barges. I can easily see the Bureau of Prisons using feasibility studies and architectural design bids to drag this out 4 years. Until a new person is in the Oval Office. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/7 "2025-05-05T03:46:16Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > The concrete is spalling and crumbling > > Sounds exactly like every other Trump property on the planet. So, why not? So paint it gold and call it a day? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/8 "2025-05-05T03:57:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Tearing down the worst parts of Alcatraz would be difficult. All the debris would require removing by barge. This is Trump you’re talking about. There’s a whole bay to throw the debris in. Bonus: it pisses off San Francisco, both City and residents. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/9 "2025-05-05T04:51:47Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > There’s a whole bay to throw the debris in. Throw enough debris into shallow waters and prisoners can hopscotch to freedom. I guess they could televise it like “Hunger Games?” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/10 "2025-05-05T05:44:17Z")
I see this as just another attack on the National Park Service by our president. It’s clear to me he doesn’t realize the National Parks are one of the things that truly makes America great. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/11 "2025-05-05T06:28:09Z")
There will all kinds of rules/regulations/laws concerning size and use of cells, quality of property and equipment, treatment of prisoners etc., so my questions is, how can he skirt around these issues? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/12 "2025-05-05T06:32:35Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@Monty](#): > > > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > > > The concrete is spalling and crumbling > > > > Sounds exactly like every other Trump property on the planet. So, why not? > > So paint it gold and call it a day? Exactly. > [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > Tearing down the worst parts of Alcatraz would be difficult. All the debris would require removing by barge. > > This is Trump you’re talking about. There’s a whole bay to throw the debris in. Bonus: it pisses off San Francisco, both City and residents. Exactly. > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Throw enough debris into shallow waters and prisoners can hopscotch to freedom. > > I guess they could televise it like “Hunger Games?” Don’t we already have Trump’s version of [_Running Man_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Man_(2013_film)) going on already? [He shows the depth of his knowledge of the United States constitution on _Meet the Press_. (Hint: it’s in the kiddy pool.)](https://www.aol.com/trump-says-cant-run-again-170557720.html) > [@](#): > > ## Trump says he’s not looking at running again in 2028 > > Trump, during the interview that was conducted May 2, said he’s not looking at running for a third term for president in 2028 and acknowledged he’s not allowed to do so ‒[after repeatedly floating the idea](https://www.yahoo.com/news/id-love-trump-entertained-idea-142835449.html) since returning to the White House. > > “I’m not looking at that,” Trump said, even as the Trump Organization recently started selling “Trump 2028” hats [on Trump’s online store](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trumps-online-store-now-selling-193155296.html). > > “I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that,” Trump said. “But it’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do. I don’t know if that’s constitutional that they’re not allowing you to do it or anything else.” [And how is the felon in chief spending his time in office this mulligan?](https://www.aol.com/trump-truth-social-posts-no-100034906.html) (The **bolding** below is mine.) > [@](#): > > No political leader has used social media quite like [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump). But his recent posts on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded in 2021, have become increasingly bizarre: the president using the **lack of scrutiny** afforded by the platform’s small user base to truly let loose. > > In the hundreds of “Truths” since he took office, Trump has variously used Truth Social to [reimagine himself as a king](http://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114032082899254855) and to urge Americans to [“BE COOL!”](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114308258545250117) as the stock market tanked in the wake of his [trade war](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-tariffs), the president’s seemingly random use of capital letters, punctuation and inaccurate spelling consistent across the messages. > > Trump’s posts broadly fit into three categories: **attacking perceived foes, reposting praise and posting no-context images or videos of himself** , like an elderly relative in a family group chat. Let’s not forget about the most important thing of all: [avoid impeachment](https://www.aol.com/gop-amps-trump-impeachment-talk-110051693.html). > [@](#): > > President [Donald Trump](https://www.cnn.com/politics/president-donald-trump-47?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_yahoo) and GOP leaders are beginning to plot their midterm push to hang on to power amid a shaky political environment, courting key candidates in critical battleground House and Senate races while leaning hard on an issue that could animate the MAGA faithful: impeachment. > > Even though Democratic leaders are wary of a third impeachment vote, the topic has become a prominent discussion in GOP ranks, with Trump eager to avoid another all-consuming showdown with an emboldened Democratic majority and Republican leaders banking the talk could help drive up turnout in an election where Trump won’t be at the top of the ticket. > > “It is a key priority of his, obviously, to keep the House majority, because he knows what would happen if we didn’t,” Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN after meeting with Trump last week to discuss the midterms. “Democrats have already said they’re gonna try another baseless impeachment. They’ll do their best to grind the agenda to a halt.” No, Johnson; the Democrats did not say they would try for a baseless impeachment. They said they would try for a well-deserved and appropriate impeachment. Sadly, Johnson cannot be impeached from his political office. His constituents bear the mark of shame of putting him in congress anf foisting him on the country. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/13 "2025-05-05T09:17:58Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > There will all kinds of rules/regulations/laws concerning size and use of cells, quality of property and equipment, treatment of prisoners etc., so my questions is, how can he skirt around these issues? Just shrug and mumble something about the “Deep State”? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/14 "2025-05-05T12:09:11Z")
I visited Alcatraz in the middle of 2021. I’m trying to figure out if wearing the shirt I got would be seen as supporting the national park, or Trump. There was a nice exhibit about the [Indian Occupation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz) too. I suspect not as many people know that piece of the history there. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/15 "2025-05-05T13:03:35Z")
OK, who had this brainstorm in the Stoopit Idea pool?? The facility was designed to hold 336 prisoners. Even doubled, that’s a small facility, especially based on his enthusiastic imprisonment agenda. Someone on FB mentioned that this kind of “plan” is out-Onioning the Onion. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/16 "2025-05-05T13:10:30Z")
Alcatraz won’t reopen to house prisoners. This is just more flood-the-zone nonsense from Trump, so that people will pay attention to him and to distract from his other, more seriously dangerous schemes. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/17 "2025-05-05T13:26:48Z")
I have been to a couple of prisons (as a visitor, **not** as a resident!) where the state has decided it was more cost effective to close the existing one & build a new one from scratch rather than trying to fix up the existing facility. It was closed 62 years ago & from Wikipedia (not that I trust everything from there but this line is reasonable) > [@Wikipedia](#): > > ### Closing of the prison > > There are several reasons that Alcatraz closed as a penitentiary in 1963. The penitentiary cost much more to operate than other prisons (nearly $10 per prisoner per day, as opposed to $3 per prisoner per day at Atlanta).[[34]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatraz_Island#cite_note-34) Half a century of salt [water saturation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_saturation) had severely eroded the buildings and three people had purportedly escaped in 1962. Hmmm, I’m _sure_ 60+ additional years of sitting surrounded by salt water has only _improved_ the condition of the buildings. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/18 "2025-05-05T14:07:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > how can he skirt around these issues? He won’t “Skirt” around those issues. He’ll tango his way around them in a bedazzled prom dress while wearing a diamond-encrusted tiara and 8 inch spike heels. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/19 "2025-05-05T14:15:35Z")
This time can we get sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads? Is that too much to ask? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886/20 "2025-05-05T14:18:06Z")
If Elmo didn’t DOGE the NWS, we would have the ability to do a Sharknado now, on the chance they Ocean’s 11 contort their way over, under, around & thru the laser beams & make it (almost) to shore. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-proposes-to-reopen-alcatraz-prison/1017886.md?page=2)