Revealed: Donald Trump Announced His Hair-Brained Idea to Reopen Alcatraz Just Hours After Clint Eastwood's 'Escape From Alcatraz' Aired on a South Florida PBS Station
Donald Trump announced his plans to reopen Alcatraz hours after the classic movie aired in Florida – where he spent the past week.
May 6 2025, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
Donald Trump announced plans to reopen Alcatraz hours after classic movie Escape from Alcatraz aired on a Florida PBS station.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the President, 78, spent the past weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which is located in Palm Beach, adding fuel to rumors his decision may have been inspired by watching the Clint Eastwood flick.
Trump's latest bold idea has divided opinion, with experts claiming Alcatraz would be more expensive to function as a prison.
According to local television listings, WLRN 26 – Miami’s local PBS affiliate – broadcasted Escape from Alcatraz on Saturday at 9pm. ET. The movie was re-aired the following morning at 11am.
Trump revealed his bold plan to reopen one of the most notorious prisons in American history during a social media splurge on Sunday night.
Writing on Truth Social, he blasted: "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.
Trump said Alcatraz would keep criminals 'far away from anyone they could harm.'
"When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm."
Biographical drama Escape from Alcatraz recounts the 1962 escape attempt from the island fortress, which is located in San Francisco Bay. While the prison was touted as being escape-proof throughout its infamous history, the film suggests that Frank Morris – played by Eastwood – and two other fugitives may have been successful in their mission.
While it is still a mystery whether the daring escape attempt was successful, Alcatraz closed less than a year later in 1963.
One of the main reasons for its closure, as critics pointed out after Trump floated the idea of once again making it a prison, was that it costs roughly three times more to run it as a standard facility.
Due to its location on a small island, all supplies – including fresh water – needed to be brought in by boat.
Experts also noted it would cost millions of dollars and take years to rebuild the facility and make it a modern, functional prison.
Trump said Alcatraz 'represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order.'
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During an Oval Office press conference on Monday, Trump was asked why he decided that he needed to resurrect Alcatraz as a prison after it had been shuttered for decades, prompting the business mogul to deliver a rambling response that included him touting his own cinematic vision.
He said: "Well, I guess I was supposed to be a moviemaker.
"I mean, it represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order. Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right? Alcatraz, Sing Sing, and Alcatraz, the movies. But it’s right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there."
Referencing the flee attempt by Morris, alongside brothers John and Clarence Anglin, the president said "nobody ever escaped" but "one person almost got there." In the president’s telling, though, "they found his clothing rather badly ripped up" and full of "shark bites."
