The White House's biggest rats surely have stories to tell. Too bad they're being killed off.
Outside the executive mansion, traps have been set up to poison not the leakers who seem so willing to spill President Trump's secrets, but the literal animals that have taken over Washington. Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs noticed the black boxes, set up amid an absurd rodent surge throughout the capital city, and tweeted photos Thursday:
Rat talk really ramped up in December, when Fox News' John Roberts tweeted about a "big brown rat" scurrying near his foot on the White House's North Lawn. It soon became clear that the rodents were ubiquitous in the D.C. swamp, with rat complaints to city government hitting an all-time high in 2017. The city allocated an additional $906,000 to tackle the problem starting in January, but the White House, it seems, went for the taxpayer-friendly option.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Margaret Atwood’s memoir, intergenerational trauma and the fight to make spousal rape a crime: Welcome to November booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite and 'Without Consent' by Sarah Weinman
-
‘Tariffs are making daily life less affordable now’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
A free speech debate is raging over sign language at the White HouseTalking Points The administration has been accused of excluding deaf Americans from press briefings
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
