Donald Trump is seeking more than $A220 million to turn Alcatraz back into a functioning federal prison.
The White House included its request in a budget proposal released overnight.
The request was made as part of a billion-dollar investment into repairing "crumbling detention facilities" and paying correctional officers more money.
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"Within this level, the Budget also affirms the President's commitment to rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility, providing $US152 million ($A220 million) to cover the first year of project costs," the proposal states.
Alcatraz closed as a federal prison in 1963 because of its high operating costs.
As an island, everything had to be shipped in to the prison by boat, including fresh water.
Exposure to the salty air had caused tremendous damage to the facilities in the time it was open.
The prison cost more than triple an equivalent facility in Atlanta cost to operate per inmate.
Now it is one of the most popular tourism attractions in San Francisco, with more than a million visitors each year.
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The proposal has drawn the ire of San Francisco locals, including state senator Scott Wiener.
"Trump is once again proposing to destroy Alcatraz — a globally popular tourist attraction — by wasting billions to turn it into some sort of prison gulag," Wiener said.
"It's an absurd, idiotic idea, a complete waste of taxpayer money, and yet another sign of Trump's dementia."
The president first proposed reopening Alcatraz in a Truth Social post in May last year.
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"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 wrote.
"That's the way it's supposed to be.
"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."
The Hollywood Reporter wryly noted his post came two hours after the movie Escape From Alcatraz aired on TV in Palm Beach when Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago country club.
Trump's budget proposal also included a 50 per cent increase in defence spending, taking it to more than $A2.1 trillion.
"Every dollar we spend on Trump's wars is a dollar that could go toward more affordable healthcare, childcare, housing and more," top Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen said.
"We cannot let this pass."
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