- Trump said the prison stood for ‘law and order’
President Donald Trump had movies on his mind when he was asked to provide details on his shocking decision to announce a plan to reopen Alcatraz to imprison ‘ruthless’ and violent offenders.
Asked to explain how he came to the decision hours after he announced it online, the president brought up the film industry – and then said the decision sent a message of ‘law and order.’
‘I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker. We’re talking – if we started with the movie making, it will end,’ he said – after fielding an earlier question about his sudden announcement to slap a 100 percent tariff on films ‘produced in foreign lands.’
Alcatraz ‘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,’ Trump continued.
Both prisons loom large in the national consciousness, and he may have been referencing the Clint Eastwood‘s Escape from Alcatraz film.
‘It’s right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world, and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there. But they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up. And it was a lot of shark bites – a lot of problems.’
It wasn’t immediately clear what swimming attempt he was referring to.
President Trump was asked for his reasoning behind a plan to reopen Alcatraz. He said it stood for ‘law and order’ and described an escape attempt. ‘You know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up. And it was a lot of shark bites’
The prison’s most famous escape attempt was carried out by Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers, who made it off the island in 1962 by fashioning a raft out of stolen raincoats and fashioning dummies that they placed in their prison beds.
None of the three escapees were ever found, and all were presumed dead.
Trump’s comments made clear that the prison’s image was central to his decision, certainly not budget issues. He noted the tourist draw of the island, and local officials say the museum on national park land brings in $60 million each year, drawing 1.6 million visitors.
‘It’s right now a museum, believe it or not,’ Trump said of the prison in San Francisco Bay
Three men escaped in 1962 after fashioning a raft. Their bodies were never found and they were presumed dead
In a post shared to TruthSocial on Sunday night, Trump vowed ‘the reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE’
‘I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker,’ said Trump when asked about his Alcatraz plan
‘Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz and just represented something strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country, and so we’re going to look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that, and we had a little conversation. I think it’s going to be very interesting. We’ll see if we can bring it back in large form,’ Trump said.
‘It’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting very you look at it … But it sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful, strong and miserable, weak. It’s got a lot of it’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting.’
Trump has a longstanding interest in sharks. During the campaign, he spoke occasionally about electric batteries and choosing electrocution over death by shark attack. In 2015 he nearly landed a leading role in the Sharknado 3 film.
Trump made his surprise announcement after a federal judge
