Donald Trump’s new “obsessions”

They told him “La Roca” and was recognized as a dark place that was impossible to escape by the strong ocean currents and the cold waters of the Pacific that surround it. He housed some of the most famous criminals in the United States, including the gangster. Al Capone, and was the scene of some memorable escapes that were embodied in the cinema.

Alcatrazthe maximum security prison located on an island in San Francisco, which had remained closed for more than 60 years, it will be remodeled and expanded To be able to house the “most ruthless and violent” criminals of the country, President Donald Trump announced Sunday.

Trump published Sunday night in Truth Social: “The United States has been plagued for too much time for violent criminals and repeat offenders, Society wastethat will never contribute nothing more than misery and suffering. when we were a more serious nation, in past times, we did not hesitate to lock the most dangerous criminals and keep them away from anyone who could cause harm. This is how it is supposed to be. “

“That is why, today,” he added, “I am instructing the Prison Office, together with the Department of Justice, the FBI and national Security, In order to reopen the prison of Alcatraz with significant extensions and reconstructions to house criminals more ruthless and violent of the United States “.

With this announcement Trump seeks to give a blow of effect, since the prison, which is today a place of visit for tourists, is a famous place throughout the world and its possible reopening would represent a symbol of its “hard hand” policy against crime and against undocumented immigrants who consider criminals.

The president explained his announcement to journalists when he returned Sunday night to the White House from his home in Mar-A-Lago in Florida.

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He said the idea came up because He felt frustrated with the “radicalized judges” that lately they have failed against him by insisting that the migrants that Trump comes deporting deserve due process. Alcatraz, he said, has long been a “symbol of law and order. They know, it has enough history.”

Beyond Trump’s wishes, experts agree that The initiative is very complicated. The prison was closed in 1963 for the deterioration of infrastructure and for the high costs of repair and supply of food, fuels and other inputs that should be taken by boat.

With a dark profile, located about two kilometers from the coast From San Francisco, Alcatraz became famous in the world for several films, including “Alcatraz escape”, with Clint Eastwood, “The man of Alcatraz” with Burt Lancaster, or “La Roca”, starring Sean Connery, Ed Harris and Nicolas Cage.

Just as the prisoners who entered this maximum security prison were looking for from the first minute in the films in reality The way of escape. Very few achieved it: in the 29 years that remained in operations, 36 men tried to escape in 14 different attempts, according to the FBI. Almost all were captured or did not survive the attempt.

Perhaps the most famous escape was the one starring three inmates –John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris– What was the theme of the movie “Alcatraz Escape” of 1979 and whose destiny is still unknown.

The initiative immediately raised the opposition reaction. In California, Scott Wiener, a democratic state senator who represents San Francisco, described Trump’s idea of “Absurd at first glance“And the most recent example of what he called The “continuous deranged behavior” of the President.

The former president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat for California whose district includes the island, questioned the viability of reopening the prison after so many years. “Now It is a very popular national park and a great tourist attraction. The president’s proposal is not serious, “he wrote in X.

A governor spokesman Gavin Newsom laughed When asked about the president’s order. “It seems that it is the day of the distraction again in Washington, DC,” said Izzy Gardon, director of communications of the governor.

President Trump seems to have been focused on the cinema this weekend in Mar-A-Lago because, in addition to the reopening of Alcatraz, he also announced this Sunday that will impose 100% tariffs on “all the films that enter our country and that are produced in foreign lands. ”

Trump also made the announcement in Truth Social: “The film industry in the United States He is dying quickly“, He wrote, complaining that other countries” are offering all kinds of incentives to attract “to filmmakers and studies.” This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, una threat to national security. It is, in addition to all this, Messaging and propaganda!”.

It is common that both large and small movies include production in the United States and In other countries where they are filmed parts of the scenes. There are many incentives in different countries and this made less and fewer movies in Hollywood and more in other countries with favorable tax incentiveslike Canada and the United Kingdom.

Hollywood studies executives were not clear on Sunday night What would the announcement mean For their business and said that they were not given any prior warning about the tariff plan and did not receive information about how it could work. It is not clear how a tariff would work because movies They are not physical assets that move through the ports like most articles subject to tariffs.

Total production in the United States decreased by 26% last year compared to 2021, according to Produro data, a firm that tracks productions. Among the favorite places to film are listed Toronto, the United Kingdom, Vancouver, Central Europe and Australia.

Some of the recent larger productions, including “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “Jurassic World Rebirth”, were made mainly or in their entirety outside the US.

Trump has expressed for years His concern for the transfer of film production abroad And shortly before assuming the position, he appointed actors Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as “Special Ambassadors” against Hollywood so that “I return bigger, better and stronger than ever!”