By Molly Goddard
9:32am PDT, May 5, 2025
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Donald Trump is in the hot seat over his comments about potentially reopening Alcatraz.
On Sunday, April 4, the commander-in-chief took to Truth Social to reveal how he wants to reestablish the abandoned federal jail in San Fransisco, Calif., 62 years after it was closed.
Keep reading to learn what people said about why the incarceration center should not be back up and running…
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"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," Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"For too long America has been plagued by vicious,
violent and repeat criminal offenders," the right-wing leader continued while adding that the prison is a "symbol of law, order and justice."
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Despite Donald Trump's determination over the matter, many people on the left aren't taking the plan seriously.
According to
The New York Times, California governor
Gavin Newsom's director of communications
Izzy Gardo reportedly "laughed when asked about the order."
"Looks like it's Distraction Day again in Washington, D.C.," he reportedly said of the
Republican leader's declaration.
In a statement from Newsom's office via
DailyMail.com, they said, "Trump is pledging to reopen Alcatraz as American consumers feel the financial pinch of his unpopular tariffs and he continues to tussle with the courts over mass deportations of immigrants."
California State Senator
Scott Wiener also slammed the proposal in a statement: "He wants to turn Alcatraz into a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay," the left-wing politician said.
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Nancy Pelosi also shared her take on Donald Trump's desire to reopen the prison and why she feels it will never happen.
"Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction," she explained in a message shared to X on Sunday, May 4. "The President's proposal is not a serious one."
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Alcatraz shuttered in 1963 after 29 years of operation because the facility became too expensive to run. Today, the island is a tourist attraction and makes $60 million in
revenue annually.
The Bureau of Prisons claimed it could cost upwards of $5 million to keep the place in operation: "That figure did not include daily operating costs. Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison," they explained in a statement at the time of its closing.
