As a child back in the 1960s  I used to watch popular American films shown as Sunday matinee programmes on the BBC service. One of them was a 1962 John Frankenheimer film called Birdman of Alcatraz starring Burt Lancaster. The film was adapted from a novel by Thomas E. Gaddis that was based on the real-life story of Robert Stroud -  a double murderer who became an expert ornithologist and authority on avian diseases while serving time at Leavenworth. In 1942 Stroud who was regarded as one of the most dangerous convicts in the US prison system was transferred to the penitentiary on Alcatraz Island where he remained until 1959 - (spoiler alert - he was no longer allowed to keep birds in his cell on Alcatraz).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdman_of_Alcatraz_(film)

John Frankenheimer’s film which was released in July 1962 proved to be an epilogue for both Alcatraz, and Robert Stroud himself. The penitentiary was closed down in March 1963, and the Bird Man himself died in November of the same year, having spent 42 of his 52 years in prison in solitary confinement.

Alcatraz (Island of Pelicans) is a bare rock located about 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco. Originally the site of a lighthouse and a military prison dating from the 1850s, it was taken over by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and reopened as a maximum security facility in 1934. It was believed that the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay would render the prison escape-proof.

Alcatraz was a very expensive facility to run, it could only ever house about 260 prisoners at maximum capacity, and it cost three times as much per inmate to run as any other comparable US prison facility. With no available supply of fresh water on the island, everything including drinking water had to be brought in by boats. Salt spray caused extensive damage to the sub-standard concrete and steel rebar construction of the prison. By 1961 engineers responsible for a 3 year program of major repairs had written the prison off as a lost cause, and Attorney General RFK submitted plans to build a replacement in Illinois.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/nx-s1-5388377/alcatraz-prison-island-trump-pelicans

The final nail in the coffin was the successful escape of three inmates in June 1962. The FBI concluded that  the men had drowned in the attempt, but other evidence which came to light years later suggests they reached shore and remained free for the rest of their lives.

The abandoned facility was occupied by a native American Indian protest group between 1969-71, and was subsequently turned into a highly popular tourist attraction, now operated by the National Park Service.

So why in the world does Donald Trump say he wants to reopen it as a prison ?  Short answer - he doesn’t. It’s a completely impractical and pointless suggestion. It’s yet another piece of bombastic and symbolic narcissism  - on a par with Trump’s long cherished desire to have his presidential sculpture added to those on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Edited May 10May 10 by toucana
corrected " a bare rock" p3

Before I get started on the stupidity of incarceration, what is the political point you want to make?

48 minutes ago, toucana said:

It’s yet another piece of bombastic and symbolic narcissism

Perhaps, but more so it’s part of his MO to control where everyone focuses their attention, specifically away from his more important priorities that he wants able to proceed in the shadows.

54 minutes ago, iNow said:

Perhaps, but more so it’s part of his MO to control where everyone focuses their attention, specifically away from his more important priorities that he wants able to proceed in the shadows.

Notably the abandonment of habeas corpus, which Stephen Miller is now trailing. Get the MAGA idiots all pumped up at the idea of being "tough" by sending "bad guys" to Alcatraz, while denying the rule of law to anyone the Shitehouse dislikes enough to arrest.

Edited May 10May 10 by exchemist

When, ultimately, Alcatraz is not reopened, it will be blamed on Biden.

6 hours ago, toucana said:

So why in the world does Donald Trump say he wants to reopen it as a prison ?  Short answer - he doesn’t. It’s a completely impractical and pointless suggestion. It’s yet another piece of bombastic and symbolic narcissism  - on a par with Trump’s long cherished desire to have his presidential sculpture added to those on the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

I think he thinks it makes him look tough, and impresses his base. Part of his bullying.

I suspect the most succinct explanation can be found the final paragraph of the NPR link in the OP:

It's a way to showcase a kind of tough on crime stature. It's a way to suggest authority over California. And it's a way to express a kind of disdain for the National Park Service … Altogether, it's like a trifecta of distraction news.

The same article also makes another point:

Alcatraz has a symbolic register, particularly for someone of Mr. Trump's generation," according to Dan Berger, a professor at the University of Washington Bothell.

Donald Trump who was born in June 1946 would have been an impressionable 16 y/o at the time when John Frankenheimer’s film came out, and when Alcatraz was shut down. The name Alcatraz simply doesn’t have the same notoriety and resonance for anyone significantly younger.

He means it, though. He wants to reopen Alcatraz as part of his 'return America to some imaginary past glory' agenda. This is a famous American landmark he figures everybody has heard of, which is a symbol of the good ol' days when law enforcement was serious and lots of convicted people were executed or sentenced to life in harsh prisons. He has no idea how it would work or how much it would cost or how inefficient would be to use (it's hard to to overestimate the extent of his ignorance): he wants to be seen making a dramatic gesture.

Interesting article by BBC News about Charlie Hopkins who at 93  is said to be the last surviving former inmate of Alcatraz  - according to the San Francisco National Archives.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yep08r9vjo

He was transferred to Alcatraz in 1955 aged 23 to serve a 17 year sentence for kidnapping and robbery after causing trouble in other penitentiaries, and spent three years on the ‘Rock’ before being moved to Missouri.

Hopkins who is an avid Trump supporter said that he does not believe the president’s proposal is serious:

"He don't really want to open that place," Hopkins said, adding that Trump was trying to "get a point across to the public" about punishing criminals and those who enter the US illegally.

On 5/10/2025 at 6:45 AM, iNow said:

Perhaps, but more so it’s part of his MO to control where everyone focuses their attention, specifically away from his more important priorities that he wants able to proceed in the shadows.

The one issue I have with this hypothesis, is that everything is on fire. The constitution is in crisis, Nazis are running the government, corruption is now open, brownshirts, I mean ICE agents are abducting folks, habeas corpus is suspended, free speech is being dismantled, the economy is tanked and the list goes on.

It is incredible to me that when folks are drowning, yet everything is on fire, and probably somehow also full of sharks, there is still potential for distractions.

8 minutes ago, CharonY said:

The one issue I have with this hypothesis, is that everything is on fire. The constitution is in crisis, Nazis are running the government, corruption is now open, brownshirts, I mean ICE agents are abducting folks, habeas corpus is suspended, free speech is being dismantled, the economy is tanked and the list goes on.

It is incredible to me that when folks are drowning, yet everything is on fire, and probably somehow also full of sharks, there is still potential for distractions.

Flood the zone

21 minutes ago, iNow said:

Flood the zone

Exactly. The pope picture was another distraction stunt, too. “Hey, look over there!”………

It all makes it harder for opposition, whether political, media, the courts or the public, to focus and identify what is urgent or most important to resist. Trump has been about disorientation from the beginning, gaslighting the public so they can’t tell fact from fiction. Now the technique is being expanded to confuse damage to vital mechanisms of democracy with a load of other, eye-catching stuff.

32 minutes ago, CharonY said:

The one issue I have with this hypothesis, is that everything is on fire. The constitution is in crisis, Nazis are running the government, corruption is now open, brownshirts, I mean ICE agents are abducting folks, habeas corpus is suspended, free speech is being dismantled, the economy is tanked and the list goes on.

It is incredible to me that when folks are drowning, yet everything is on fire, and probably somehow also full of sharks, there is still potential for distractions.

People are easier to distract when you wear them out with dumpster fires on every corner. BTW, habeas corpus is not suspended and I suspect it won't be - more in the category of "tough talk." And a way to maintain the framing of migrants and refugees as an "invasion." Habeas talk is meant to put some more fear in the immigrant community. The hope is that more will take the plane ticket option, which is way cheaper than actually rounding up people.

32 minutes ago, TheVat said:

BTW, habeas corpus is not suspended and I suspect it won't be

Functionally it has been, since many of the abducted are not getting due process and there are instances where courts are being ignored

11 minutes ago, swansont said:

Functionally it has been, since many of the abducted are not getting due process and there are instances where courts are being ignored

Yeah, looks like it's the Gitmo thing all over again, where detainees in theory can petition a court for a writ of HC, but the judge might conjure some specious reasoning as to why the petition can be denied. Or various officials drag their feet and....oops, Juan is in some Latin American Shawshank, too late, nothing to be done. Several scotus cases in the oughts defended the WoHC, but that bench lineup is long gone, I guess. I really don't know what would happen if the ignore the court order thing becomes SOP.

8 hours ago, iNow said:

Flood the zone

The zone is already flooded, isn't it? At this point it the water is up to everyone's noses and how is adding more being even more distracting?

7 hours ago, swansont said:

Functionally it has been, since many of the abducted are not getting due process and there are instances where courts are being ignored

Exactly, if there is not access to it, it doesn't really matter that it is not formally suspended. It was the same thing regarding abortion, until they finally decided to come out and ban it outright.

7 hours ago, TheVat said:

Yeah, looks like it's the Gitmo thing all over again, where detainees in theory can petition a court for a writ of HC, but the judge might conjure some specious reasoning as to why the petition can be denied. Or various officials drag their feet and....oops, Juan is in some Latin American Shawshank, too late, nothing to be done. Several scotus cases in the oughts defended the WoHC, but that bench lineup is long gone, I guess. I really don't know what would happen if the ignore the court order thing becomes SOP.

Not only dragging feet, but a) shuffle them around in various states so that they lawyers cannot find them and then whisk them away before it can be litigated. Once in El Salvador (or wherever) they claim that there is no legal remedy anymore. It is functionally the same as to vanish folks into a gestapo prison.

22 hours ago, CharonY said:

The zone is already flooded, isn't it? At this point it the water is up to everyone's noses and how is adding more being even more distracting?

He runs things like a reality tv show. Everything is about shocking the audience and going bigger and being more shocking and over the top than the last bombshell. See also: WWE and the way wrestling keeps the audience engaged.

Sure, I get that. But what really is left? It is a bit like having the wrestlers kill each other for real, then flooding the ring and have the remaining folks eaten by sharks. And then oops I am going to be very corrupt, even more corrupt than yesterday. What shock factor could possibly be left? Has he eaten Melania?

42 minutes ago, CharonY said:

What shock factor could possibly be left?

How about white South African 'refugees', flown to the US at taxpayers' expense? Next, they be segregating sch... oh, wait, they're already doing that.

No, they're not done until all the late-night comedians are in Alcatraz.

Just now, Peterkin said:

How about white South African 'refugees', flown to the US at taxpayers' expense?

I mean, that is just the cruelty cherry on top of the terror they are visiting up on brown folks. Not much of a shock factor there, I would say. Sure, some folks are complaining that those refugees are not properly vetted compared to all the others who are not granted asylum and waiting for years. But it certainly does not top deporting American toddlers with cancer, now does it?

Edit: that was an actual question, I am not sure whether my sense of anything is tethered to reality anymore.

4 minutes ago, CharonY said:

But it certainly does not top deporting American toddlers with cancer, now does it?

Top? No. The top has been lopped off. There is no scale of comparison of shocks anymore. Screaming at heads of state, soliciting 400M jets for golf outings, shilling knock-off merchandise while in office, taking over sovereign countries, arresting judges.... from the trivial to the enormous, it all just sort of flows into one big electric storm.

17 hours ago, CharonY said:

What shock factor could possibly be left? Has he eaten Melania?

She vanishes from view for weeks at a time. This means they will have time to find a body double who can pass for her, in the event that she is eaten. This would make a darker version of the popular film comedy "Dave," perhaps.

1 hour ago, TheVat said:

She vanishes from view for weeks at a time. This means they will have time to find a body double who can pass for her, in the event that she is eaten. This would make a darker version of the popular film comedy "Dave," perhaps.

I never imagined that this Tracey Ullman comedy clip would become topical again - but here it is:

3 hours ago, toucana said:

I never imagined that this Tracey Ullman comedy clip would become topical again - but here it is:

Dark times maybe. But I enjoyed that!

The sequel ...