"To lock up America's most dangerous and violent criminals": Donald Trump "orders" reopening of Alcatraz prison in California

"For too long, America has been victimized by vicious, violent, and repeat criminals, the dregs of society, who will never bring anything but misery and suffering," the conservative Republican billionaire wrote on his social network Truth Social.

"That is why today I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of the Interior to reopen, substantially expand, and rebuild Alcatraz to lock up America's most dangerous and violent criminals," he added.

Donald Trump believes that the reopening of the establishment, which closed in March 1963, will be a "symbol of law, order and justice."

With this latest announcement, the American president is taking a new step in the fight against crime, a key element of his second term in the White House.

Eastwood, "escapee from Alcatraz"

The facility, which housed top mafia bosses including Al Capone, was closed after only 29 years of operation due to high operating costs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which administers federal prisons in the United States.

The maximum security federal prison entered into history in 1962 with the spectacular escape of three inmates, including Frank Morris , which then inspired a book in 1963 ("Escape from Alcatraz" by J. Campbell Bruce) followed in 1979 by a film of the same name by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood.

Today, the U.S. Correctional Service says Alcatraz cost nearly three times more than any other federal prison .

The geographical isolation of this prison, located on a rocky islet, generated numerous costs, such as the transport of food by boat , or 3.8 million liters of drinking water per week , the island having no source of fresh water.

And according to estimates, three to five million dollars had been injected into restoration and maintenance work at the establishment in order to keep it open , the same source said.

Today a tourist attraction

During its 29 years of operation, the average inmate population at Alcatraz was between 260 and 275, according to the Bureau of Prisons, less than 1 percent of the total federal prison population.

" At Alcatraz, a prisoner had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care . Everything else was a privilege that had to be earned. Among the privileges a prisoner could earn were work, correspondence and visits from family members, access to the prison library, and recreational activities such as painting and music," the federal agency explains.

Located two kilometers from the coast, the former prison is now a tourist attraction in San Francisco Bay , California.

Becoming a national park in 1972, Alcatraz fascinates as much for its exceptional location as for its sinister past as a federal penitentiary.

The rocky islet attracts more than a million visitors from all over the world every year .