For the "worst of the worst Trump raves about Alcatraz again - and wild animals
US President Donald Trump has just visited a new detention center for migrants in Florida - and he is already flirting with the next prison. Here, too, animals play a special role.
01.07.2025, 22:34
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- US President Donald Trump has visited a new deportation prison in the state of Florida, which is surrounded by swamps full of alligators.
- Dangerous reptiles are the guards here, Trump said on Tuesday in the town of Ochopee.
- The right-wing government of Florida calls the facility "Alligator Alcatraz", alluding to the infamous Alcatraz prison on an island off San Francisco.
US President Donald Trump has backed up his plans to reopen the notorious Alcatraz prison. "We will be looking at renovating and rebuilding the famous ALCATRAZ prison, which is high up in the bay, surrounded by sharks!" the Republican announced on the Truth Social platform.
The conceptual work began six months ago and there are various prison construction companies that are interested in working together. "It's still early days, but it's promising!" he wrote.
From 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz was the most feared prison in the USA. The rocky island "The Rock" was considered escape-proof - and a place of banishment for the "worst of the worst". Today, the island is a museum and a breeding ground for many birds and is a protected monument and nature reserve.
New prison in the middle of the swamp
On Tuesday, Trump visited a new prison in the US state of Florida. According to the White House, the prison, informally known as "Alligator Alcatraz", can house thousands of migrants who are to be deported. The facility is located in the heart of the Everglades - the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.
As with his idea for a new Alcatraz, Trump was also thinking aloud about wild animals as guards for the prison in Florida: If you want to escape, you have to learn to run away from alligators properly, he said with a wink when asked - and drew a zigzag pattern in the air with his hand: "Don't run straight ahead. Run like this - then your chances increase by about one percent."
After his visit, the White House shared a picture on Platform X, apparently created using AI, in which the US President can be seen with three alligators wearing caps labeled "ICE". This is the authority responsible for arresting and deporting migrants in the USA, among other things.
Trump corrects reporter for false reptile
During his visit to Florida, a reporter asked Trump about a statement he made during his first term in office, according to which the Republican could also imagine using alligators in the Rio Grande border river with Mexico - many people enter the USA illegally via this route, sometimes at great risk.
Trump has now corrected the reporter and explained that he was not talking about alligators at the time, but crocodiles. "They're a step above that," said Trump. It was "actually meant as a joke" at the time, he said. "But a lot of people liked it, and a lot of people think we should do it."
