President Donald Trump on Sunday night announced his plans to open the doors of Alcatraz, the island prison in San Francisco Bay, to inmates for the first time in more than a half century.
Minutes later, in a second California-themed post on Truth Social, he also announced 100 percent tariffs on movies made abroad.
Taken together, the two Sunday night policy announcements underscore Trump’s desire to use his executive authority to enact sweeping changes not just in Washington but across the country. Reopening a notorious island prison and implementing massive tariffs in an effort to save the American film industry also nod to the president’s flair for the dramatic.
The president, in a post on Truth Social, said that he has directed the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security, to reopen a “substantially enlarged and rebuilt” facility on Alcatraz to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“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 wrote. “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.”
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets,” Trump added. “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
Alcatraz was developed in the 19th century as a military prison before being converted into a federal prison for the most dangerous prisoners in 1934. A number of infamous inmates spent time in Alcatraz, including Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and Whitey Bulger, before it was closed in 1963. It is now a tourist attraction managed by the National Park Service and a designated National Historic Landmark.
A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom dismissed Trump’s plans to rehab Alcatraz.
“Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.,” said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener said in a statement the proposal is “absurd on its face,” noting that it is a major tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay Area that welcomes 1.4 million visitors each year. But he also said the move was part of “Trump’s ongoing crusade to sabotage the rule of law.”
“If Trump is serious about doing this, it’s just one more step in his dismantling of democracy — a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay,” Wiener said.
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, in a statement, said the proposal “is not a serious one.”
“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction,” Pelosi said.
In the second Truth Social post, Trump framed himself as the savior of a dying film industry and said he was immediately authorizing the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative’s Office to immediately implement a 100 percent tariff on “any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.”
He suggested incentives from other countries to filmmakers to make their movies abroad amounted to a “concerted effort” and “therefore, a National Security threat.”
Overseas film production has ramped up dramatically in recent years, as studios are enticed by lower labor costs and lucrative tax breaks offered by other countries. The ability to film on location has also lured filmmakers overseas.
The production flight has hit California especially hard, prompting a new push by Newsom, entertainment studios and labor groups to double the state’s film tax credit. The proposal is currently advancing through the state Legislature.
State Sen. Ben Allen, a Los Angeles-area Democrat who is a key player in the tax credit negotiations, said he heard from Jon Voight, one of Trump’s appointed ambassadors to Hollywood, several days ago about the possibility of new tariffs.
A person close to the White House, granted anonymity to share details of internal conversations, also attributed the new tariff policy to Voight.
“To be honest, at first blush I generally see this as a positive development. Unlike a lot of the other items on Trump’s tariffs list, we know that TV and movies can be made 100% in the USA right now and at a very high caliber,” Allen said. “The key concern of course will be how this might affect U.S. movie sales around the world.”
Dustin Gardiner contributed to this report.
