Trump seeks $152m to reopen notorious Alcatraz prison
Trump seeks $152m to reopen notorious Alcatraz prison
In his 2027 fiscal year budget, US President Donald Trump has proposed a $152 million allocation to restore Alcatraz to its former role as a high-security prison. The island, situated near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and nicknamed The Rock, was once a symbol of American incarceration, but has since become a popular tourist destination.
The plan envisions transforming the site into a modern correctional facility, with initial funding covering operational expenses for the first year. However, local lawmakers in California have expressed doubt, questioning both the final cost of the project and the practicality of operating a prison on an island with limited infrastructure. The last time Alcatraz functioned as a maximum security prison, it was three times more expensive to maintain than other federal facilities, as noted by the Bureau of Prisons.
“Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” said Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, who criticized the proposal as “absurd on its face and should be rejected outright.”
Trump’s announcement, made on Truth Social last year, emphasized collaboration with the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security to “substantially enlarge and rebuild” the historic site. He argued the prison would serve as a hub for the nation’s most dangerous offenders. Despite its closure in 1963, Alcatraz remains a significant cultural icon, currently managed by the National Park Service, which generates $60 million in annual revenue from tourism.
Initially constructed as a naval defense outpost, Alcatraz transitioned to a military prison and later became a federal facility in the 1930s under the Department of Justice. Its most famous residents included gangsters like Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, and George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly. The site has also featured in several films, including Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), starring Burt Lancaster, Escape from Alcatraz (1979) with Clint Eastwood, and The Rock (1996) featuring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
