Washington DC - President Donald Trump said Sunday he had directed officials to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz prison, the notorious federal jail based on a small island in California that shuttered six decades ago.

The jail will house "America's most ruthless and violent Offenders," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that the institution will be "substantially enlarged."

Alcatraz closed in 1963 due to high operating costs after being open for just 29 years, according to the US Bureau of Prisons, and now serves as a tourist attraction.

Located 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco and with a capacity of just 336 prisoners, it held several well-known individuals, including Prohibition-era mob boss Al Capone, and saw many escape attempts.

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The island was occupied by Indigenous activists for 19 months starting in 1969 in a high-profile act of land reclamation.

Alcatraz, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986, is now operated by the National Park Service.

"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," Trump wrote Sunday.

"No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets," he said.