Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz prison comes with eye-watering cost for taxpayers: Live updates

President Donald Trump sparked a liberal meltdown and is facing an onslaught of criticism from California Democrats after detailing an ambitious plan to reopen and expand the notorious Alcatraz prison.

Trump announced on Truth Social on Sunday night a plan to restore Alcatraz to all its glory, 62 years after it was shut down due to the exorbitant cost of running it.

‘It was just an idea I had,’ Trump proudly revealed later on Sunday, slamming ‘radicalized judges’ who made him look outside the box after repeatedly trying to block his efforts to deport illegal migrants.

By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor

Hollywood film company stocks slid Monday in early trading after President Trump said he would slap a 100% tariff on all films ‘produced in Foreign Lands.’

‘This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda,’ Trump posted Sunday. ‘We’re on it,’ wrote Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in response.

Trump’s missive rattled investors in the movie industry, with shares in Netflix dropping 2 percent. Paramount and Warner Brothers both saw their stock price drop more than 1 percent. Disney was down less than 1 percent, after suffering a steep drop after Trump’s April 2 tariffs, which prompted fears of a recession and a drop in travel.

The industry drops were modest compared to some of the market turmoil that followed Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on countries around the world. Trump’s post didn’t specify whether it would apply to both feature films and streaming services, nor did it say how he would define foreign production or whether it would be based on box office revenue or some other metric. The post comes as a host of countries have tried to lure production inside their borders with tax incentives. Australia and New Zealand – the location for ‘Lord of the Rings’ – both said Monday they would continue to advocate for their film industries.

President Donald Trump slammed Mexico’s president for being ‘afraid’ of the cartels as he confirmed reports he offered her U.S. troops to help fight the drug war there.

He blasted President Claudia Sheinbaum for rejecting his aid.

‘She’s so afraid of the cartels she can’t walk, so you know that’s the reason. And I think she’s a lovely woman. The president of Mexico is a lovely woman, but she is so afraid of the cartels that she can’t even think straight,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday evening.

‘If Mexico wanted help with the cartels, we would be honored to go in and do it. I told her that. I would be honored to go in and do it. The cartels are trying to destroy our country. They’re evil.’

By Katelyn Caralle, Senior U.S. Political Reporter

Donald Trump tore into a reporter questioning him on the details of the first rearrangement of his Cabinet since starting his second term.

Two months after the Signal scandal that rocked the national security, intelligence and defense community, President Trump announced that his National Security Advisor Mike Waltz would be leaving his post to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

‘It’s not a big deal. He was fine and where he is, he’ll do a good job,’ Trump said onboard Air Force One on Sunday.

Many see Waltz’s change from national security to diplomacy as a demotion in the wake of the Signal scandal. But Trump insisted he would personally want the cushy UN assignment over the NSA position if he had to choose which one was preferable.

He’s going to the United Nations. To me I think it’s – personally, if I had a choice for myself of doing, I’d rather have that job than the other.

Trump has directed the Bureau of Prisons to work alongside the Department of Justice, FBI and Homeland Security to ‘reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt’ Alcatraz.

The order comes as Trump has repeatedly clashed with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members and illegal migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The maximum security prison, which was shut down in 1963, will provide Trump a workaround to those court orders barring him from carrying out the mass deportation scheme.

‘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,’ he wrote, appearing to suggest illegal migrants will be the first sent to the prison.

Trump has also directed the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labeled the ‘worst criminal aliens.’