Trump's rambling reply to Alcatraz question sparks 'mental decline' concerns: ‘A lot of shark bites'

US President Donald Trump gave a rambling answer to a question about the reopening of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, sparking fresh concerns about his mental health. During a White House meeting with reporters, Trump randomly spoke about his unrealized plan to become a movie maker when asked about Alcatraz.

The order to resurrect the once-notorious island prison in San Francisco Bay came out of the blue over the weekend with a post on Trump's social media platform on May 4.

Trump’s answer

“Well, I guess I was supposed to be a movie maker. We're talking-we started with the movie making and will end. I mean, it-it represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order,” Trump told a reporter when asked about the reopening of Alcatraz.

“Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate. Sing Sing and Alcatraz, right? The movies.

“But uh, it’s right now a museum, believe it or not. Lotta people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world, and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they, as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up, and uh, it was a lot of shark bites, a lot of problems.

“Nobody’s ever escaped from Alcatraz, and just represented something strong having to do with law and order; we need law and order in this country,” he rambled in a response that has been described on social media as “a word salad”

Trolling on social media

The rambling response led to Trump being roasted on social media.

“Remember how Biden got dragged for mixing up a word? Crazy times,” wrote one X user.

“Does he ever say anything that's not made up. There was never any clothing with any shark bites found. That literally makes no sense,” another said.

Many people said that Trump had got the idea of reopening Alcatraz from TV, pointing out that Escape from Alcatraz had been shown on television in south Florida on Saturday night including in West Palm Beach, where Trump spent the evening at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

“He watched Escape from Alcatraz a few days ago…. I hope he doesn’t watch

Dr. Strangelove or Lolita,” an X user quipped. “I really wish Clint Eastwood would weigh in on this - we need an Escape from this Alcatraz nonsense,” another joked.

“He's visibly deteriorating and someone asks if he's in decline? He was word salad 10 years ago but could still express a thought on occasion, at least. If you played videos side by side it's undeniable,” a user asked.

(With inputs from AP)