--- title: Mar a Lago: Sinkhole Opens in Front of Trump's Estate description: A sinkhole opened in front of the golf club owned by President Donald Trump canonical: https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-22T16:06:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:03:07.164Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Sinkhole Just Opened in Front of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate og:description: The town of Palm Beach issued a travel alert as a result of the sinkhole og:url: https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3da30f9dea90b2/6988ce4e656a3f1f4abd0190/gettyimages-666285854.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping At Mar-A-Lago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Sinkhole Just Opened in Front of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate twitter:description: The town of Palm Beach issued a travel alert as a result of the sinkhole twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3da30f9dea90b2/6988ce4e656a3f1f4abd0190/gettyimages-666285854.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Sinkhole Just Opened in Front of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 22, 2017 4:06 PM UTC  The Trump helicopter is seen at the Mar-a-Lago Resort where President Donald Trump yesterday held meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 8, 2017 in Palm Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle—Getty Images The Trump helicopter is seen at the Mar-a-Lago Resort where President Donald Trump yesterday held meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 8, 2017 in Palm Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle—Getty ImagesJoe Raedle—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 22, 2017 4:06 PM UTC A sinkhole opened in front of [Mar-a-Lago](http://townofpalmbeach.com/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=294&utm%5Fsource=dlvr.it&utm%5Fmedium=twitter), 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](https://weather.com/science/news/sinkholes-why-so-frequent-florida-20130813), 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](http://townofpalmbeach.com/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=294&utm%5Fsource=dlvr.it&utm%5Fmedium=twitter) 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](http://time.com/4669323/mar-a-ago-winter-white-house-pictures-photos/)” 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. > [](https://twitter.com/themella/status/866674467489161216) > [](https://twitter.com/laurafkaiser/status/866678947051864065) > [](https://twitter.com/ChloeAngyal/status/866679675871002624) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/"},"headline":"A Sinkhole Just Opened in Front of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate","datePublished":"2017-05-22T16:06:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:03:07.164Z","description":"The town of Palm Beach issued a travel alert as a result of the sinkhole","url":"https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3da30f9dea90b2/6988ce4e656a3f1f4abd0190/gettyimages-666285854.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3da30f9dea90b2/6988ce4e656a3f1f4abd0190/gettyimages-666285854.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping At Mar-A-Lago","caption":"Donald Trump Hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping At Mar-A-Lago","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4788455/trump-mar-a-lago-sinkhole/","name":"A Sinkhole Just Opened in Front of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Estate"}}]}] ```