Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sniped reporter would be a “good candidate” for incarceration at Alcatraz, amid growing liberal concern over President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to reopen the infamous island prison.
Pelosi’s remarks came during an exchange with Scripps News correspondent Nathaniel Reed, who questioned the California Democrat about Trump’s plan to revitalize the decommissioned prison facility.
“Based on what you know, how long would it take to refit Alcatraz to be suitable for prisoners?” Reed asked.
Pelosi responded dryly, “Well it depends on how many prisoners they think they are going to put there. Is it for one, like Elba?” she asked, referencing Napoleon’s exile.
Things you can't make up: Fmr. House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi today suggested I would be "a good candidate" to move to Alcatraz 😂🤣
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/1xdYhXHTr2
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) July 17, 2025
“Or is it for a couple hundred people, but I don’t think it’s ever going to happen.”
The California lawmaker then turned the tables on the journalist, asking, “Have you been to Alcatraz?”
When Reed replied that he had, Pelosi followed up with a biting remark: “So you wouldn’t want to live there, even as a prisoner, right? You’d like those cells?”
Laughing, she added, “Well maybe you’d be a good candidate for the way it is now, I don’t know.”
Pelosi has not been shy to voice her disapproval over Trump’s Alcatraz initiative.
In a recent MSNBC interview, she called the proposal “the most foolish idea this administration has proposed.”
The idea, however, appears to be gaining traction within the Trump administration.
In a Truth Social post from July 1, Trump revealed that preliminary planning for the project began six months ago.
“Conceptual work started six months ago, and various prison firms are looking at doing it with us,” he wrote.
The former prison, located on an island in San Francisco Bay, was shut down in 1963.
The president first floated the idea on May 4 in another Truth Social message, stating, “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,” he continued.
He said the revamped Alcatraz would stand as “a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! 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…
— Fan Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 4, 2025
Trump has since directed the Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security to move forward with plans to reopen and expand the facility.
Despite enthusiasm from the White House, internal debates are ongoing. One senior official reportedly told NewsNation that the $2 billion price tag attached to the renovation “sounds excessive, but ultimately it’s up to the president to decide.”
Lock Them Up! Russiagate is reigniting…
Obama, Clinton, Comey, and Brennan are all on the hook!
CLICK HERE to demand Russiagate conspirators got to prison!
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited the island to evaluate the site.
Burgum later shared photos of the trip on X, writing, “In @POTUS’ America, law and order will be fully enforced, and today’s visit to Alcatraz with @AGPamBondi marked a powerful step toward ensuring dangerous criminals are held accountable and Americans remain safe.”
An administration official told Axios that the government is still in the early stages of planning.
“We need a lot more study, a lot more specificity, before the president decides,” the source said. “But $2 billion might just be too much money for him.”
Multiple options are being considered, including a $1 billion partial renovation, or contracting private companies to take on the project—an approach previously used for facilities like the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey.
That model is already being implemented in Florida. A migrant detention facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” located in the Everglades, has begun accepting detainees.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed deportations are already underway and that he is holding off on expanding to another site until the first reaches capacity.
“I’m willing to do Blanding once Alligator Alcatraz is filled,” DeSantis said, referring to Camp Blanding, a National Guard base.
“DHS has started moving in a significant number of people, and they’re starting to deport people from there too.”
The governor was quick to set expectations, saying, “Remember, this is not the Ritz Carlton, ok?”
According to DeSantis, while basic needs are met, the facility’s main purpose is quick processing and repatriation.
“They have food and shelter … but the reality is it’s there to be a quick processing center,” he added.
“We have a runway right there, they can just be flown back to their home country. That is the purpose.”
DeSantis noted he doesn’t want to launch Camp Blanding while Alligator Alcatraz is still underutilized.
“If one is 60 percent full and the other is 40 percent, I’d rather just channel everyone to Alligator, since it’s easier,” he said, estimating the site could accommodate up to 4,000 illegal immigrants.
He also pointed out that most of those held are “military age males,” most of whom have criminal histories.
He stated that the facility is helping enforce the law effectively, despite resistance from Democrats who, according to him, continue to advocate for those in the country illegally.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense is taking steps of its own. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a directive allowing two military installations, Camp Atterbury in Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, to serve as temporary detention sites.
In a letter to Rep. Herb Conaway and members of the House Armed Services Committee, Hegseth clarified that these locations will be used by DHS to house illegal aliens on a temporary basis.
He added that ongoing military activities at the sites would not be disrupted.
