As if there was a need for more proof that President Donald Trump views his power as a way to indulge in grand gestures on national and world stages, we give you his latest act of mere bravado: Turning Alcatraz back into a prison.
Such a suggestion is nothing more than a display of swagger, a wildly impractical move that would cost the American people untold millions of dollars, and to what end? So federal prisoners can freeze in the middle of fog-shrouded San Francisco Bay with a fine view of the skyline rather than in some more practical, already existing supermax in Colorado?
Here’s how Trump announced his latest big idea: “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, 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. … 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, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
Given Trump’s fondness for the ostentatious over the practical, there are those who will say that the president is merely having a bit of fun here, putting the fear of God into bad guys who don’t want to live out their lives on The Rock. Trump’s memories of the actual former federal prison, which has been closed for 60 years, seem to be conflated with shows he has seen about it.
And then there are those who are close to him and the situation who say that isn’t the case here at all — he means it, man.
Because, while Trump announced his penal notion through his typical medium, a post on Truth Social, his director of the Bureau of Prisons, William K. Marshall III, said that he has already requested an immediate assessment of Alcatraz.
“We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice,” Marshall said in a statement. “We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.”
Pardon us for stating the obvious: This is not going to happen. The supposedly very important mission of housing prisoners on Alcatraz is not a realistic suggestion. The National Historic Landmark run by the National Park Service there is a major tourist attraction that has revenues of $60 million annually from admissions fees. The former prison buildings are in entirely dilapidated condition. At their peak, they housed 336 prisoners. There are currently about 156,000 people in the federal prison system.
The main reason Alcatraz was closed was that it cost way too much to imprison people there — three times as much as in other lockups. There is no fresh water — a million gallons a week had to be brought by boat, along with all food and supplies.
So the reopening of Alcatraz prison is not going to pass the DOGE test.
The very idea that it should again be a penal colony will go down in history as just another eccentric idea among many from a president who spends too much time promoting the unserious.
Originally Published:
