Located near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz prison, also known as 'The Rock' or as the Californian island fortress in the San Francisco Bay, was once regarded as one of America's most notorious prisons, frequently fog-shrouded, but has served as a tourist attraction in recent years. It was originally a naval defence fort before being converted first to a military prison and then to a federal prison in the 1930s after being taken over by the Department of Justice.

The maximum security facility was closed in 1963 because its remoteness and proximity to saltwater corrosion ultimately made it too expensive to sustain. By the time Alcatraz closed, it was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison. There was a lack of running water and sewage on the island, and all supplies had to be brought in by boat. As a tourist site, it is currently run by the National Park Service, with the facility currently bringing in $60m (£45m) in revenue as an attraction.

Some of its most notable inmates have included notorious gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

Alcatraz has served as a location in some films, notably 1962's Birdman of Alcatraz, featuring Burt Lancaster; 1979's Escape from Alcatraz, with Clint Eastwood as the main protagonist; and the 1996 film The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.

Now, US President Donald Trump is seeking substantial funds to reopen the infamous Alcatraz prison to house America's most ruthless and violent offenders as part of his proposed budget for the 2027 fiscal year. His declared aim, unless it is his latest island real estate venture, is to rebuild it as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility, with funds covering the first year of costs. Indeed, he has already directed the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz. However, the request will need to be approved by the US Congress.

But questions have been raised about the final cost of the project and the challenges of running Alcatraz as an active prison. In fact, the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said the budget proposal from the Trump administration was absurd on its face and should be rejected outright. Her main reasons are that it would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people, apart from the fact that turning Alcatraz back into a functioning prison would mean the loss of an iconic landmark.

Yet for Trump, the defunct prison is more than a pop-culture, literary and cinematic phenomenon reminiscent of an era when the federal government dealt with gangsters so dangerous they were jailed on a remote, maximum-security island.

Alcatraz was designated a National Historic Landmark in the 1980s, giving it legally protected status. It's unclear how the White House would circumvent that designation to open a federal prison.

For Trump, reopening Alcatraz isn't just about a building; it's about sending a message: crime doesn't pay, and justice will be served. If feasible, Alcatraz will stand as a beacon of American resolve, where the most dangerous offenders face accountability. For the public, it's a promise fulfilled: a stronger, safer America. For President Trump, this project is a source of national pride.

Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has focused on what he calls restoring truth and sanity to American history, which has included revamping the Smithsonian Institution and national parks in his image, including a planned 250-foot arch along the Potomac River, while demolishing the East Wing of the White House to make way for his new ballroom.

As those plans become legally imperilled, his Alcatraz proposal also stands to face a battle. And it's more than one battle.

For nearly half a century, Alcatraz has played host to an annual Indigenous tradition: a sunrise ceremony to greet the morning's first rays of light. Thousands and thousands of prayers have taken place from that spot. It's considered a sacred place today.

In 1969, Indigenous student organisers leapt into the San Francisco Bay and swam to Alcatraz's jagged sandstone shores in an effort to reclaim the island from the federal government. Their attempt was not the first. In 1964, a year after the Alcatraz prison closed, a group of Lakota activists briefly occupied the island on the basis that treaty law required unused federal property to return to Indigenous hands.

But 1969 would be a turning point. The first group to land on Alcatraz was quickly intercepted by the US Coast Guard, but a second group arrived weeks later, on November 20, and with greater numbers.

Around 80 people landed on the island, launching a historic 19-month protest. For many, it was the start of the Red Power Movement, a period of activism in Indigenous communities across the USA. Alcatraz remains under federal control, and conducting the ceremony requires permitting and coordination with the National Park Service, as well as a local ferry operator.

In 1969, Texas oil industrialist Lamar Hunt proposed to buy Alcatraz Island and put on it a memorial museum to the Apollo space programme as well as a Victorian San Francisco theme park. The city's government approved the sale, and it would've gone through had Mander and Duskin, two known environmental activists, not intervened.

So will Trump succeed in disturbing the ghosts of this infamous prison?