(11 October 2016) Donald Trump’s campaign for the US president suffered a potentially fatal blow last week after an embarrassing tape surfaced where he made lewd and denigrating comments about women.  Already trailing in the polls, the revelation led to many GOP leaders to distance themselves from the New York real estate mogul.  Yesterday, House Leader Paul Ryan effectively threw in the towel on Trump’s controversial Presidential campaign as he advised his House and Senate members to focus on re-election in their individual races rather than support Trump’s efforts for the top job. 

This withdrawal of formal GOP support may well spell the end of Trump’s chances.  Polls taken after the release of the tape now show Trump down by 11 points, a near-insurmountable deficit with only four weeks left in the race.  Monday’s second debate is unlikely to move the polls much as Hillary Clinton largely held her own in the face of Trump’s often over-the-top accusations. 

Hillary Clinton’s lead is now widening.  This is more or less what I had predicted in previous posts given the changing influences in the horoscopes of both Hillary and Bill Clinton.  Since we don’t really what time Hillary was born, I focused on Bill Clinton’s chart for clues about her ups and downs.   I could see that Mercury conjoined Jupiter right on the Bill’s Ascendant at the time of the second debate and that this would very likely help Hillary.  Well, it not only helped her debate performance, but it also reflected the huge gain from the Trump tape which was released just three days before the debate.   Mercury and Jupiter are both benefic planets and their conjunction near an important personal chart point like the Ascendant, Sun or Moon almost always coincides with "good news".  Also I could see that Tim Kaine’s chart was very good for early October and thought it might be the time when Hillary Clinton would begin to open up a bigger lead.  This is basically what has happened, although ironically, Kaine did poorly in his own VP debate against Mike Pence the previous week.

I also thought that Trump’s newly-minted Jupiter dasha period (as of Sep 30th) could cause some problems for him. Although Jupiter is a benefic planet, Trump’s Jupiter is closely aspected by Rahu, the North Lunar Node.  Rahu can have a corrosive effect on Jupiter and can lead to a loss of moral judgment.  Jupiter’s penchant for wisdom and "right action" is thereby undermined by Rahu’s desire for material gain irrespective of social norms and morals.   The scandalous "Access Hollywood" tape is a perfect example of how Rahu can undermine Jupiter’s moral compass as Trump not only participated in predatory "locker room talk" but also lacked the judgment to be discreet in a media environment filled with hot mics that might have recorded his words.

Trump and America

Obviously, I still think Trump will lose and possibly lose badly to Hillary Clinton on November 8th.   But it also seems clear that Trump has changed the political landscape in America during this campaign.  Aside from his boorish manner and ugly tactics, his focus on the downside of globalization, free trade and liberal immigration laws has now forced the political elite to take those concerns of the working class more seriously.  And despite the resistance from the elites, he may well have changed the direction of the Republican Party for many years to come.  He is a force to be reckoned with.

America has a love-hate relationship with Donald J. Trump.  While he is going to lose this race, he remains a champion and hero to 30-40% of the population.  A somewhat greater number basically despises him and considers him morally and temperamentally unfit for the office of president.  And therein lies the mathematics of his failing campaign.  One way we can understand Trump’s polarizing effects is to look at how his horoscope aligns with the horoscope of the USA.

Off the top, we can see the likely catalyst for this love-hate dynamic.  Trump’s Sun/Rahu-Moon/Ketu opposition (yes, The Donald was born on a lunar eclipse) align closely with the placement of Mars in the USA chart.  His Sun sits at 29 Taurus, just one degree from the USA’s Mars at 0 Gemini.  This is one reason why many Americans see Trump as a powerful and energetic person who is capable of leading their country.  Sun-Mars contacts are great for conveying a sense of executive authority and taking action.  The proxmity of Rahu intensifies the Sun-Mars connection and can lead to exaggerations and distortions of that leadership energy.  This could be one reason why Trump has been accused of ignoring constitutional and democratic principles and exhibiting authoritarian tendencies.   But the larger problem for Trump is that his Moon (28 Scorpio) is opposite this Mars. 

Whereas the Sun and Mars are masculine energies, the Moon, of course, is a more feminine energy that represents the emotions.  Moon-Mars oppositions are tense and usually unhelpful in any kind of reciprocal give-and-take relationship.  Mars-Sun is good for efficient one-way relationships such as one might find in the military or a corporation, but the Moon does not fit so easily with the energy of Mars.  The fact that Trump is polling 20 or 30 points better with men confirms the truth of this astrological alignment.   Trump’s male Sun aligns positively with America’s fighting Mars spirit.   But his Moon doesn’t work at all with America’s Mars.  Moon-Mars oppositions symbolize conflict and turbulence.  And since the Moon represents the feminine principle, it is difficult for Trump to integrate the feminine approach into his relationship with the USA.  Is it any wonder that Trump will lose this election because of his lack of appeal to women?  Moreover, he will lose this race because he is running against a woman, Hillary Clinton. 

Trump’s clear ability to connect with people through their economic needs is perhaps seen in the conjunction of his Saturn (0 Cancer) and Venus (2 Cancer) with the USA’s Mercury (3 Cancer).   Clearly, Trump has a strong connection with the planet of business and commerce (Mercury) for the USA.   His anti-free trade platform is aimed at bringing jobs back to the manufacturing sector, no matter if it leads to higher costs of imported goods.  His anti-free trade bias may well reflect Saturn’s sense of restraint upon commerce (Mercury) in order to enhance value and wealth (Venus). 

Many people see his rhetorical skills as blunt and crude (or worse!) , and yet the conjunction of his Mercury (15 Gemini) to the USA’s Jupiter (15 Gemini) is one very good reason why his message has resonated with so many ordinary people.   His words (Mercury) are recognized and respected (Jupiter) by many Americans, especially those who have been left behind in the push to globalization since the 1980s.  This conjunction is very close and speaks to a genuine connection with the American psyche.  His political opponents would do well to acknowledge it and learn from it.

But Trump is above all a person who lives and dies according to his Mars.  Mars is rising in his chart in Leo and it propels him forward in life.  Mars describes his initiative, his risk-taking, his short attention span, his decisiveness, his spitefulness, his pettiness, and his fearlessness.   Donald Trump’s Mars (3 Leo) is in a close opposition with the Moon (7 Aquarius) in the USA chart.   This four-degree orb is bad enough and it gets even smaller if we use some afternoon charts for the USA.  I prefer the 6.30 p.m. chart although I know many other astrologers use an earlier chart.  In any event, the opposition of Mars to the Moon is again highlighting the problem of anger and antipathy.  It again highlights Trump’s problem with women.  Incredibly, that means there are actually two separate Moon-Mars oppositions in play between the Trump chart and the USA chart: Trump’s Mars to the USA’s Moon and the USA’s Mars to Trump’s Moon.  That translates into a lot of anger and some very volatile emotions.

The Moon-Mars opposition animates the American public (remember that the Moon symbolizes the public as a whole in national horoscopes)  but it animates them in an aggressive and overly assertive way.  His rallies are huge and filled with frustrated and angry people who are tired of the establishment ignoring their needs and taking them for granted.  But the opposition aspect is often bad and unproductive, unlike, say, the conjunction of the Moon and Mars.  I would say that Trump’s Mars animates the American people (Moon) to think and behave too aggressively. 

That is one reason why Trump has been called out for fomenting a rise in xenophobia and racism towards Muslims and Mexicans.  The Mars opposition to the Moon creates anger and animosity that is usually destructive.  Trumps lights a fire under the feet of US elites and excites the population, but in a negative and sometimes ugly way.  Yes, I’m editorializing here to some extent although I think most astrologers would agree.  Trump’s Mars is too much for the USA and if left unchecked, it would lead to a lot more rancour, strife and conflict. 

Interestingly, Trump just entered his Jupiter dasha period according to Krishnamurthi ayanamsha.  Jupiter is exactly conjunct the USA’s Saturn.  Is this another reason why Trump’s campaign is collapsing?  I think it might be.  Saturn is a limiting influence and it cannot be helpful to have one’s dasha lord conjunct the Saturn of the nation you are trying to lead. 

So while Trump has some very strong positive connections with the USA chart, the double Moon-Mars opposition creates an unhealthy amount of turbulence, aggression conflict.  These twin influences operate side-by-side and go a long way to explain why America has a very intense love-hate relationship with Donald Trump.   Despite his impending election defeat, it seems likely he will continue to exert a strong influence on American political life.  The double Moon-Mars alignment will likely manifest early in 2017 when it is activated by the transits of Saturn and Rahu.  This could be a time of particular turbulence and conflict involving both Donald Trump and the USA.   

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks have been generally mixed of late.   Last week saw stocks move sideways as stronger US economic data suggested the Fed might finally hike rates in December.  This mostly mixed performance has carried into this week.  As I noted in last week’s market forecast, however, this week’s Mercury-Jupiter conjunction did correlate with a more solidly positive outcome for most global stock markets on Monday although US stocks are now declining in Tuesday’s session.

This week looks more bearish.  In the late week, Mars will align with Mercury, Rahu (North Lunar Node) and Saturn.   Three of the four of these planets are natural malefics and their alignment definitely carries significant downside risk.  While declines are not inevitable, they are much more likely than not.  Moreover, larger declines also have an increased likelihood although I would not say they exceed 50%. 

For more details and analysis on market trends for this week, this month and this year, please check out my weekly MVA Investor Newsletter.  The newsletter is published every Saturday and includes extended discussion of US and Indian stock markets, as well as gold, oil and major currencies.