• Daily Dose of WTF
  • Posts
  • MAGA: Make Alcatraz Great Again?! Trump Wants to Reopen The Rock (To Jail Criminals... and Judges?)

MAGA: Make Alcatraz Great Again?! Trump Wants to Reopen The Rock (To Jail Criminals... and Judges?)

Amidst global trade chaos and fights with the courts, Trump floats rebuilding the infamous island prison as a symbol of "Law, Order, and JUSTICE"... and maybe somewhere to put judges he doesn't like?

May 05, 2025

Just when you thought the administration's policy priorities couldn't get any more... creative, President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell proposal via Truth Social this past Sunday that sounds like it was ripped from a B-movie script: He wants to REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!

Yes, that Alcatraz. "The Rock." The notorious, escape-proof (mostly) island prison sitting in the middle of San Francisco Bay, shuttered since 1963 because it was literally crumbling into the sea and cost nearly three times more to operate than any other federal prison. The place that once held Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly, now a National Historic Landmark and wildly popular tourist destination, pulling in over a million visitors a year. That's the place Trump wants to turn back into a "substantially enlarged and rebuilt" maximum-security facility to house "America's most ruthless and violent Offenders."

Why? According to Trump's post, it's because "For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society..." and because "When we were a more serious Nation... we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm." He declared the reopening would "serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE."

But wait, there's more! Buried in his Truth Social justification was this little gem: "We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally."

Did you catch that? He lumped "Judges that are afraid to do their job" right in there with criminals and thugs as people we're apparently being held hostage by. This wasn't just a random aside. CNN reported that Trump later told reporters the Alcatraz idea was "just an idea" he had “as federal judges pushed to ensure deported migrants had due process."

So, is the plan really just about locking up violent offenders? Or is this also a symbolic (or perhaps not-so-symbolic?) threat aimed at the very judges the administration has been clashing with over deportation orders and other policies? Reopening a notorious prison as a symbol of "JUSTICE" while simultaneously complaining about judges who uphold due process... it certainly sends a chilling message.

The sheer WTF-ness of proposing this now is staggering. While the administration grapples with self-inflicted trade wars rattling the global economy, potential market manipulation probes, mass deportations facing legal challenges, and controversial agency overhauls, the President thinks the solution is a multi-million (or likely billion) dollar project to rebuild a defunct island prison that's currently a beloved National Park?

Predictably, reactions ranged from disbelief to derision. California officials like State Senator Scott Wiener called it "absurd on its face" and potentially "a domestic gulag." Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi dismissed it as "not a serious proposal." Governor Newsom's office quipped, "Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C."

Is it a serious plan? A distraction? A symbolic threat against the judiciary disguised as a tough-on-crime measure? Who knows. But floating the idea of "Making Alcatraz Great Again" by turning a tourist attraction back into a supermax prison, possibly with judges in mind, is peak 2025 absurdity and a truly bizarre Daily Dose of WTF.

Sources: