If you're in the habit of predicting what Donald Trump will do from day to day, try and imagine the last thing the president saw on television and expect policy to spring forth from there.
Trump announced his vision to reopen Alcatraz, the infamous prison in San Francisco Bay that shuttered in 1963 and has served as a national park since the 1970s, in a post to Truth Social over the weekend. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump outright admitted that his desire to put prisoners back on The Rock came from Hollywood.
"I was supposed to be a moviemaker," Trump said. "It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order...Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate. Sing Sing and Alcatraz, right? The movies."
Trump is aware of the prison's current use as a park and museum, but still called the site "a big hulk that's sitting there rusting and rotting."
We'll see if we can bring it back, in large form and a lot," Trump said. "It represents something that's both horrible and beautiful."
Reporter: How did you decide to reopen Alcatraz?
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 5, 2025
Trump: I was supposed to be a movie maker… Nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there but they found his clothing rather badly ripped up, a lot of shark bites… pic.twitter.com/RxQkJ3hho7
There is some evidence to suggest that Trump had the idea to open the cells of Alcatraz after watching its most acclaimed appearance on the silver screen. The Clint Eastwood-led 1979 film "Escape from Alcatraz" played on a South Florida PBS station over the weekend, while Trump was at home in his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Shortly after the film aired on Sunday, Trump shared his idea for the future of Alcatraz 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," he wrote. "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, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders."
