Alcatraz was originally a naval defence fort, and it was rebuilt in the early 20th Century as a military prison. The Department of Justice took it over in the 1930s and it began taking in convicts from the federal prison system. Among its more famous inmates were the notorious gangsters Al Capone, Mickey Cohen and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. 

Agencies New York

President Donald Trump says he is directing his government to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on a hard-to-reach California island that has been closed for more than 60 years.

In a post on his Truth Social site Sunday evening, Trump wrote that, "For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be." 

"That is why, today, 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," he wrote, adding: "The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE." The prison - infamously inescapable due to the strong ocean currents and cold Pacific waters that surround it - was known as the "The Rock" and housed some of the nation's most notorious criminals, including gangster Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. 

It has long been part of the cultural imagination and has been the subject of numerous movies, including "The Rock" starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Still in the 29 years it was open, 36 men attempted 14 separate escapes, according to the FBI. Nearly all were caught or didn't survive the attempt. The fate of three particular inmates - John Anglin, his brother Clarence and Frank Morris - is of some debate and was dramatized in the 1979 film "Escape from Alcatraz" starring Clinton Eastwood.