Donald Trump in 2018 – The Astrological View

The most extraordinary aspect of Donald Trump’s unusual presidency is how early and how often the word “impeachment” has been used. No other president in American history, including those who have actually been impeached, have had this possibility hanging over their heads in their first year in office.1

Birth Chart of Donald J. Trump, b. 14th June, 1946

Elsewhere on this site I have looked at President Donald Trump‘s birth chart, at the start of his first full year as president from January 2017. It has been marked by all manner of controversy, with the lowest approval rating of any President. This may be due to, as summarised by the UK Independent newspaper as ‘anti-immigrant legislative manoeuvres, inflammatory rhetoric and authoritarian posturing’. Other things perhaps assisting this unpopularity (certainly among Democrats) may be issues like the lifting of industrial environmental restrictions; allegations of racism, unfair new tax legislation, sabre- rattling with North Korea and – last but not least – questions surrounding his actual competence for the job at hand. This has come to a head recently in a best selling book by journalist Michael Wolff, Fire and Fury, published on January 5th, which – based on conversations with White House insiders – raises the issue of Trump’s alleged deteriorating mental state. (Wolff’s book, it has just been announced, is to be made into a TV series.) In spite of all this, a White House physician has recently give President Trump a medical exam and – apparently on request – a test for cognitive ability. On the latter, the doctor gave his illustrious patient the all clear.

In the President’s favour, there are plaudits from many Republicans and business people on his handling of the economy: for example, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) strengthened in 2017. And yet to say that he has improved the overall economic situation in the US would probably be an exaggeration. For one, the low unemployment figures are an inheritance from Barack Obama, and even the resurgence in the coal industry (in states like Virginia) has more to do with an increased demand from China (for metallurgical coal) than it does with the lifting of industry regulations. As for Trump’s recent ‘victorious’ tax-cuts legislation (from last December) the Tax Policy Centre’s analysis show that the biggest beneficiaries for the next 10 years will be the top 1 per cent, and that by 2027 taxes would actually rise for low-income sectors.

What about the future then; what astrological indicators are there running through Donald Trump’s second year in office? As noted, there have been many calls for his impeachment, or even to invoke article 25 – a constitutional amendment on presidential disabilities. When journalists write about this they are alluding to Section 4, which includes a process that can jettison a president by force if they are “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” and yet deny it. Let’s look at what the cosmic situation suggests for POTUS number 45.

Donald Trump Solar Return 2017-18

One major reason I have refrained from predicting the swift downfall of Donald Trump is the conjunction of Jupiter to the ascendant on his solar return chart for 2017-2018 (up until his birthday on 14th June). Jupiter here forms part of Grand Trine with Mercury (9th) and the moon (5th) indicating that even his more seemingly outrageous comments and questionable statements have rendered him Teflon coated! (Trines work to preserve a kind of harmony and a positive flow of energy.) Of course, it isn’t all plain sailing, as Trump does often seem to be out of his depth in such an elevated role and is consequently up against enormous pressure. (He’s quite unpopular too, remember, with the larger populace.) Sun (9th) opposite Saturn (3rd) would seem sufficient to indicate that his freedom to make certain choices is very much curtailed and that a bunker mentality between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is the only solution. It’s certainly an approach he seems to have adopted.

The Progressed movements to Donald Trump’s birth chart are significant, all the way back to his announcement that he would run for President as the Republican nominee in 2016. This dates back to June 16th 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City. The Secondary Progressions on that day show progressed Jupiter to within two minutes of arc of a conjunction with the rising sign. A good time to announce a new project, then! Then came the election in November 2016, and two major transits of Pluto – a square to Chiron during the election itself, and a square to Jupiter during the Inauguration, January 20th, 2017. A text book would interpret these aspects as intense encounters – inner or outer – with one’s own power (and its huge potential for misuse) and the need for massive humility in using the energies with care. (Both Chiron and Jupiter have an exaggerating effect.) Whether or not Trump has fulfilled these obligations depends on the observer, but I find the presence of boisterous, self-aggrandizing Jupiter once again highly significant.

As for transits to Donald Trump’s birth chart in 2018, February witnesses Uranus in square to Venus, which suggests yet another PR disaster – the eccentric and ‘inappropriate’ (Ur.) clashing with harmonious relations and social etiquette (Ven.). (In short, diplomacy fails, but this is nothing unusual – remember his disastrous meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel?) In early May, 2018, transiting Saturn opposes Mercury, which indicates a difficulty coming to terms with salient facts or details, or a serious resistance to (and lack of sympathy with) others’ opinions. This could be another occasion when the White House shutters come down in order to minimise some embarrassing situation. No doubt there will more be attacks on the press and alleged ‘fake news’. (This transit, incidentally, repeats in mid-December – and may even see a repetition of similar events.) Plus, early July and November see transiting Saturn square to natal Neptune – a clear suggestion that the clash between one’s personal vision/self-image, and actual in-your-face-Reality (from ‘out there’) is being underlined. Events will now bear this out. (One cannot maintain certain fictions about oneself indefinitely, and Trump has already been criticised for, essentially, inventing his own truths, even when they contradict actual concrete facts.)

Donald Trump Solar Return 2018-19

Going back to the solar returns (June 2018-June 2019) we see a rather different picture from the self important Jupiter/ascendant of the previous year. Aspects between outer planets and personal points of contact (inner planets and angles) are always a major key to interpreting solar returns: and here we have a T-square involving Saturn (1st), Chiron (4th) and Mercury (7th). This suggests that communication is becoming ever more strained, optimism may be less of an option, and that there are internal forces dredged from the past (4th house Chiron) that need dealing with. (This is a broad generalisation for the whole year, of course.) The solar return chart for June 2019 – June 2020 is dominated by three major oppositions: sun-Jupiter; Mercury-Saturn and Mars-Pluto. This particular twelve months, more than any other, would seem to indicate a real test of mettle, of inner strength in so far as retaining a sense of perspective is concerned. Both sun-Jupiter and Mar-Pluto suggest hubris, at the very least a tendency to misuse one’s personal power and privilege. But then we arrive at the mid terms …

DONALD TRUMP AND THE MID-TERM ELECTIONS

One of the more significant events in America’s political calendar this year will be the United States midterm elections on November 6th, 2018. These are said to be a nationwide referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency. This is because the prize is the entire House of Representatives, thirty three percent of the Senate, and various governorships. Some political analysts predicted the Democrats will enjoy a “wave” of victories at this time. Amy Walter believes we could see, in 2018, what happened in the midterm elections of 2006 when George W Bush was President – Democrats were able to assume control of both the House of Representatives and Senate. According to Wikipedia:

‘These midterm elections will take place in the middle of Republican President Donald Trump’s term. All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate will be contested. 39 state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested.

However, the astrological augurs during the mid-terms are good for President Trump: transiting Jupiter is exactly conjunct his ascendant and progressed moon trines the radical moon: a sense of personal boost if nothing else. I also note that (on the date of the mid-terms) the US progressed moon (in the 4th, appropriately!) is opposite progressed Uranus, the planet of revolution and unpredictability. The progressed moon moves roughly one degree per month, and so this opposition in November is significant. As far as these elections go, it may mean that (typical to Uranus) conventional expectations that the Democrats should retake Congress will go awry. It pays to expect the unexpected where Uranus is concerned, though as the Vox website points out, ‘Presidents with bad approval ratings usually do badly in the midterms. And Trump’s approval rating is bad.’ However, this may be one time when the trend is bucked – very Uranian. There may be some surprises in store, just like the General Election!

As for that seemingly perennial question as to whether Donald Trump will be impeached (or just forced to resign), recently (January 8th) the New York Times reported that:

‘Tom Steyer, the billionaire environmentalist and Democratic political donor, announced Monday that his advocacy group, NextGen America, will spend $30 million to help Democrats retake the House in 2018, with the aim of eventually impeaching President Trump.’2

Likewise, NBC NEWS weighed in with:

‘Even before “Fire and Fury” raised questions about President Donald Trump’s mental fitness, 70 percent of Democratic voters told NBC News/Wall Street Journal pollsters they wanted congressional hearings on impeachment, making it impossible for their party to ignore the issue as they try to ride an anti-Trump wave to control of Congress. Winning a majority in the House would theoretically give Democrats the power to impeach the president — which some liberal lawmakers have already predicted will happen — while it would take two-thirds of the Senate to vote convict and remove Trump from office.’ 3

But, for all the strong feeling among Democrat politicians and voters that he is simply not the right man for the White House, impeaching him may not be easy. The astrological indications are that the Jupiter effect will last for one term, with the Donald maintaining that Teflon coat! So far I have found little that contradicts this. However, come the next election there is a different picture emerging. The progressed MC in Trump’s chart ‘catches up’ with progressed Saturn (via conjunction) in November 2020, only 6 minutes away from exact – at 3 degrees of Leo. This is only one of the indications that President Trump will now start to feel incredible pressure (and I will be returning to this issue before long). Saturn in the 10th house on a chart has a kind of karmic effect, and with the progressed MC making that conjunction the point is being emphasised – the fruits of one’s actions catching up with the individual. And so, with this indicant, it seems doubtful Donald Trump would win a second term. But there will be more to come in this vein!

1. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/12/29/trump-in-2018-will-democrats-be-smart-about-impeachment/

2.https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/us/politics/tom-steyer-trump-impeachment-midterm-elections.html

3. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/democrats-can-t-escape-issue-trump-s-impeachment-2018-midterm-n835946

Trump image by Gage Skidmore