Trump budget proposal seeks $152 million to reopen Alcatraz

SAN FRANCISCO – President Donald Trump has announced his intention to reopen Alcatraz as a prison, and is seeking $152 million to make it happen. The true cost of reopening the facility could be much higher.

Trump’s request was included in the 2027 Budget Proposal released on Friday. The document states the budget, which requires Congressional approval, “affirms the President’s commitment to rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility,” and that the $152 million would “cover the first year of project costs.”

The budget doesn’t contain any indication of how long the renovation of the island prison will take, or what the total cost might be.

Trump’s plans for Alcatraz

The backstory:

Trump first announced his intention to reopen Alcatraz in a May 2025 post on Truth Social, the social media company he owns.

“… I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders (sic),” Trump wrote in the post, which was published on May 4 of last year. “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”

Two members of the Trump administration — then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited the former prison in July 2025, which was taken by many as a sign that the administration planned to follow-through on Trump’s desire to see the prison reopened.

Dig deeper:

Alcatraz operated as a prison from 1934 to 1963, when it was closed due to high operating costs. The Bureau of Prisons website states the facility at the time required “an estimated $3–5 million” for restoration and maintenance,” an estimate that did not include the daily operating costs.

“Alcatraz was nearly 3 times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison. The major expense was caused by the physical isolation of the island,” the BOP website states. “For example, the island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The Federal Government found it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.”

The facility was established as a National Park in 1972, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. 

Why you should care:

Trump’s budget proposal also includes a request for an additional $1.5 trillion for national defense — a 44% increase on current defense spending — and a 10% cut to non-defense spending on programs including:

• Humanitarian assistance ($2 billion)
• Food for Peace ($1.2 billion)
• Global Health Programs ($4.3 billion)
• International Organizations and the UN ($2.7 billion)
• Treasury International ($642.2 million)
• The National Endowment for Democracy ($315 million)

“President Trump promised to reinvest in America’s national security infrastructure, to make sure our Nation is safe in a dangerous world,” the document states. “The 2027 Budget upholds this promise and would ensure that the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military.”

California leaders react

The other side:

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a response to Trump’s proposed budget:

“This project is stupid and a waste of taxpayer money,” Newsom’s statement said. “In California, we are proud to to meaningfully improve public safety.”

Representative Nancy Pelosi, in a post on X, called Trump’s budget proposal “absurd on its face,” and said it should be “rejected outright.”

“Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” Pelosi wrote.

State Senator Scott Wiener issued a state criticizing the cost of the project, and the push to erase a National Park.

“Trump’s idiotic quest to sink $2 billion into ruining a globally popular tourist attraction is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse,” Wiener said in a statement. “Trump’s dementia continues to get the best of him. Making Alcatraz a prison again isn’t a thing and we’re not going to let him turn Alcatraz into his newest gulag. Back off.”

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, in a July 2025 post on X, wrote there is “no realistic plan for Alcatraz to host anyone other than visitors.”

“If the federal government has billions of dollars to spend in San Francisco, we could use that funding to keep our streets safe and clean and help our economy recover,” Lurie wrote.

What they’re saying:

Trump’s budget proposal, and its focus on defense spending, comes less than a day after the White House published a video in which the president said “it’s not possible” for the U.S. to fund day care and Medicare programs because “we’re fighting wars,” and “we have to take care of one thing: military protection.”

Trump made the remarks during a private Easter luncheon at the White House on Wednesday. The event was closed to the press but the White House later shared the video of Trump’s speech on social media. The video was up for only a short time before the White House made it public. Business Insider reporter Bryan Metzger saved the video while it was still on the White House account.

By the numbers:

A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 75% of U.S. adults see child care costs as a “major problem,” while 50% say helping working families pay for child care should be a “high priority” for the federal government.

A Pew Research survey conducted in December showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government should ensure that everyone has health care coverage.

A presidential budget is a financial statement of the administration’s priorities but the disbursement of funds falls to Congress, which has the freedom to ignore the President’s fiscal desires.