Alcatraz? Really?

No, not really

Everything is more expensive on an island. In 1962, it cost more than 2.5 times as much to house a prisoner on the island of Alcatraz than to house him on land

Everyone ought to know by now that they should stop taking Donald Trump literally and take him seriously instead. Opened to great fanfare in 1933, Alcatraz held about a quarter of the prisoner population that an ordinary supermax holds today. But Americans are very concerned with crime, and upset by soft-on-crime politicians. For better or worse, even with the best of intentions, Democrats have married themselves to police defunding, bail reform, and progressive prosecutors pursuing unpopular ‘equity’ agendas that look like racial favoritism and two-tier justice.

Alcatraz still has symbolic meaning to most Americans. By invoking the infamous island prison, Trump projects seriousness about bringing back tough-on-crime policy, even if it never literally reopens. He also makes Democratic politicians talk about crime, a topic they prefer to ignore. No matter what the Bureau of Prisons tells him about the costs of rebuilding and reopening the facility, Trump will keep talking about Alcatraz as long as Democrats keep falling for the bait.