By Samantha Waldenberg

(CNN) — President Donald Trump said in a social media post Sunday that he is directing the Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, the infamous former prison, as a place to “house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

“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. We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”

The president told reporters as he arrived back to the White House later Sunday that it was “just an idea” he had because of “radicalized judges” who want to ensure migrants being deported have due process.

“I guess because so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for … every single person that’s in our country illegally,” he said, adding, “that would mean millions of trials.”

Trump said Alcatraz, which closed 60 years ago due to crumbling infrastructure and high maintenance costs, has been “a sad symbol, but it’s a symbol of law and order. And you know it’s got quite a history, frankly, so I think we’re going to do that.”

He doubled down on the idea Monday, touting Alcatraz’s history of housing “the most violent criminals in the world” and repeating his belief that the prison represented a strong symbol.

“Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz, and (it) just represented something strong having to do with law and order,” he told reporters at the White House. (Three people did escape from the notorious prison in 1962 and were never found.)

Alcatraz, located on an island off the San Francisco coast, operated as a federal penitentiary for nearly 30 years and housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the country, including Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and James “Whitey” Bulger. It closed in 1963 “because the institution was too expensive to continue operating,” according to the Bureau of Prisons website.

An estimated $3 million to $5 million “was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open,” not including daily operating costs. “Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” according to the website.

It is now operated by the National Park Service as a tourist destination, welcoming approximately 1.2 million visitors a year.

Alcatraz was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. However, such a designation “can be considered for withdrawal either at the request of the owner or on the initiative of the Secretary of the Interior,” according to the National Park Service.

There are certain conditions that make a landmark eligible for losing the designation, such as ceasing “to meet criteria for designation; the qualities for which it was originally designated have been lost or destroyed.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said Monday that the Bureau of Prisons, which is overseen by the DOJ, is “working towards rebuilding and opening Alcatraz.” Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III said the agency will “pursue all avenues” to implement Trump’s plans for reopening Alcatraz.

“I have ordered an immediate assessment to determine our needs and the next steps. USP Alcatraz has a rich history,” he said in a statement Monday. “We look forward to restoring this powerful symbol of law, order, and justice. We will be actively working with our law enforcement and other federal partners to reinstate this very important mission.”

The Department of the Interior referred CNN to Trump’s statement, saying the agency and the National Park Service had “nothing to add at this time.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes Alcatraz, pushed back on the president’s proposal, calling it “not a serious one.”

“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one,” the congresswoman wrote Sunday on X.

The idea to reopen and rebuild Alcatraz seems to have already been floated by the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. days after his father was inaugurated for a second term when the president signed an executive order to send migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“Now this is a great idea. Maybe we should also reopen Alcatraz?!?!” Trump Jr. wrote on X.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Karina Tsui and Elise Hammond contributed to this report.

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