Drain the swamp: There's a sinkhole on the White House lawn

The sinkhole at the White House. Photo / Twitter, Jim Acosta

For all the concern over leaks at the White House, a more pressing problem might be the sinkhole on the North Lawn that appears to be growing by the day.

The pit in the ground, which was first reported by White House correspondents on site this week, appears to have opened just outside the press briefing room and deputy White House press secretary Hogan Gidley's office.

Steve Herman, a reporter with Voice of America, tweeted that he first spotted the sinkhole last week. It has since grown, and another sinkhole has opened next to it.

Sinkholes, which have been known to swallow streets, cars and even homes, tend to occur when rainwater seeps into the soil and loosens the sediment enough to send it sinking into crevices beneath the surface.

It was not clear what caused the emergence of the White House sinkholes.

As of today, groundskeepers had placed orange cones and caution tape around the spot on the lawn. But they couldn't do anything to keep the Internet at bay.

By midafternoon, the sinkhole had its own following self-described as #TeamSinkhole, and of course, its own Twitter account.

This isn't the first time one of President Donald Trump's residences has been vexed by a sinkhole.

Exactly one year ago to the day, a sinkhole opened in front of Mar-a-Lago, Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

That hole, which was about 1.2m by 1.2m, was much larger than its White House counterpart appears to be. Palm Beach officials blamed the widening ditch on a newly installed water main in the area.

Still, many believed it was a sign of something, well, deeper.

Perhaps due to the swampy weather in DC lately. 😊 There’s a sinkhole in the North Lawn of the White House. 📸 @MarkWalzCNN pic.twitter.com/m5AeDRDsvn

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) May 22, 2018

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