President Trump’s idea to reopen Alcatraz as a functioning prison is a reflection of his political instincts and personal tastes, even as it is a long shot to come to fruition.

Alcatraz, the island located off the coast of San Francisco, was closed as a prison in 1963 and has since been turned into a public museum. The excessive cost to operate Alcatraz was the driving factor in its closure as a prison, according to the Bureau of Prisons.

Trump’s suggestion that it could once again be a penitentiary for hardened criminals highlights both his efforts to project a tough on crime image, and his fondness for cultural symbols of past generations.

“Well, I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker,” Trump quipped when asked Monday how he came up with the idea to reopen Alcatraz as a prison.

“I think it represents something,” Trump told reporters. “Right now it’s a big hulk that’s sitting there rusting and rotting... It sort of represents something that’s both horrible and beautiful, and strong and miserable. Weak. It’s got a lot of qualities that are interesting.”

The president first raised the idea in a Truth Social post on Sunday, when he said he was directing the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice and other agencies to "reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt" prison at Alcatraz.

The facility, he mused, would house "America's most ruthless and violent Offenders." Trump has also indicated the expanded space would be needed if all the........

© The Hill