A sinkhole opened in front of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private estate and golf club, on Monday causing minor traffic delays. 
 
 The sinkhole is 4-by-4 feet and is believed to be near a newly installed water main, according to a Palm Beach travel alert. Sinkholes are a common occurrence in Florida, according to the Weather Channel, which has called them “as much a part of the Florida landscape as palm trees and alligators.” 
 
 The town of Palm Beach issued a travel alert on Monday as a result of the sinkhole, saying crews from West Palm Beach Utilities will be examining the sinkhole throughout the day. According to CBS12 in Florida, one lane of traffic has been closed. 
 
 The Mar-a-Lago estate is referred to as the “Winter White House” by President Trump who visited the club frequently in the first few months of his time in office. The President has hosted foreign leaders at the club, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
 
 Some took to Twitter to crack jokes about the sinkhole opening near Trump’s lavish estate. ||||| This could be President Donald Trump's best chance at draining the swamp as a sinkhole continues to grow on the White House lawn. The sinkhole appeared on the White House's North Lawn, which was roped off and surrounded by caution cones. 
 
 Groundskeepers confirmed the sinkhole is growing in size, with some joking that it is large enough to "drain the swamp" at the White House and Washington. The White House, home of the President of the United States, was constructed between 1792 and 1800. Since Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801 the house has remained occupied minus a few unfortunate years where our friends across the pond decided to set it on fire. 
 
 This week I’ve been observing a sinkhole on the @WhiteHouse North Lawn, just outside the press briefing room, growing larger by the day. pic.twitter.com/BsFUtxFqpB — Steve Herman (@W7VOA) May 22, 2018 
 
 Reporters from the press briefing room, located nearby the sinkhole, note that the hole has grown in size and a second sinkhole appears to be forming next to the first. 
 
 The sinkhole could be a result of an old water line that has rusted through and caused water to leak into the White House Lawn. This could act to carve out underground voids, eventually causing the overlying ground to sink under its own weight. It doesn't help that Washington, D.C. is built largely on swamp land with water tables oftentimes very close to the ground. 
 
 Washington, D.C. is built adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean with the Potomac River running through it. With much of DC around 50 feet above sea level, the aquifer water level reaches close to the ground surface. 
 
 In the figure above you can see that its not uncommon that the water level is 4-6 feet below the ground surface, meaning if you dug a hole to this depth you would find standing water. 
 
 Sinkhole appears in the White House lawn. Right behind @hogangidley45 office! pic.twitter.com/DRCLkNQBw7 — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) May 22, 2018 
 
 Sinkholes appear to be following President Trump around the country. Almost precisely a year ago, a massive sinkhole appeared in front of the Mar-a-Lago resort owned by Donald Trump. 
 
 Sinkholes can form when the ground is composed of easily dissolvable rock, most commonly limestone. In this case, however, it is likely a result of issues with sewer or water lines below the White House Lawn. By leaking water or waste, these lines can erode away the soil around the pipe. Eventually, especially after a large rainfall the ground can become unstable and collapse. 
 
 In the case of sinkholes in Florida and along the gulf coast, the limestone bedrock is the root cause for collapses. Sinkholes are commonplace in Florida primarily because most of the state sits on top of limestone rock. Limestone easily dissolves from slightly acidic rainfall as it leaches into the ground. Over time, the rain dissolves caverns into the ground, which can collapse without any notice. 
 
 If you've ever made it out to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico you are standing in a cavern formed by a similar process. While these are great tourist attractions when stable, it's not something you like to see appearing in your lawn. Good thing there's still lots of swamp to drain in D.C.
– It's an otherwise ho-hum traffic alert from the town of Palm Beach, Fla., warning drivers that a new 4-by-4-foot sinkhole on Southern Boulevard might cause some headaches. Except that the sinkhole just happens to be in front of President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, aka the "Winter White House," per Time. Sinkholes aren't exactly rare occurrences in Florida, and the best guess is that the culprit in this case is a newly installed water main. Still, the Trump connection was proving too tough to resist for many of his critics on Twitter. "The swamp is draining?" asked one tweet rounded up by the Washington Post. "Sinkhole, or portal?" asked another. Others saw a connection between a different Trump topic popular on Twitter, the eerie-looking photo of him touching a glowing globe: "What in the name of all that is good is this man summoning?!" asked one tweet when the sinkhole emerged.