Donald Trump has said he is directing the administration to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison on an island off San Francisco that has been closed for more than 60 years.

California Democrats called the idea “absurd on its face” and part of the US president’s strategy of political distraction. Other officials pointed to the closure of the prison complex in 1963, known for its brutal conditions, due to operational expense and the high number of (unsuccessful) escape attempts.

“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than 60 years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The president’s proposal is not a serious one,” the California Democratic congresswomen and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

In a post on his Truth Social site on Sunday evening, Trump wrote: “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.”

He added: “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.”

But the directive received a scathing reception from critics, especially California Democrats. Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator representing San Francisco, posted that Trump “wants to turn Alcatraz into a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay”.

“In addition to being deeply unhinged, this is an attack on the rule of law. Putting aside that Alcatraz is a museum & tourist attraction, this is both nuts & terrifying,” he added, calling the proposal “absurd on its face”.

Trump later on Sunday said it was “just an idea” and it was unclear on Monday whether it would happen.

“Looks like it’s Distraction Day again in Washington, DC,” said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the California governor, Gavin Newsom.

Civil rights attorney Scott Hechinger concurred, posting on X and referencing the White House budget proposal issued last Friday: “Alcatraz. No more than a sensational distraction from this: Trump just cut nearly $1 billion from bipartisan, proven, successful anti-crime, violence prevention programs around the country.”

Instead of preventing crime before people are harmed, Hechinger added, Trump had “made America substantially less safe. And now he’s stomping & parading around with big words and sensational capital letters about a wasteful reopening of a domestic torture complex that will never actually happen & do nothing to keep America safer … what a dangerous joke.”

The Bureau of Prisons said the prison, which was open for only 29 years, had “no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The federal government found that it was more effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.”

Before it was turned into a federal prison in 1934, Alcatraz island was used, in 1895, to imprison 50 Hopi Native American parents after they refused to send their children to culture-washing Indian boarding schools.

In 1969, 89 Native American protesters occupied Alcatraz for 18 months, declaring it Native land.

“After centuries of broken treaties, brutal injustice, and government policies aimed at erasing Native culture and identity, this action was a powerful fight for survival,” Dr LaNada War Jack, one of the original student occupiers said, as reported by Native News Online.