(20 January 2020) The much-anticipated Senate impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump is finally set to begin this week.   Although most observers expect Trump will be acquitted by the GOP-controlled Senate, there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the trial will proceed.  The White House and the GOP has thus far refused to hear any witnesses and there is considerable pressure from Trump to get the trial over as quickly as possible.

Somehow I can’t quite see Trump getting convicted, if only because it seems so unlikely in the current political climate.  And yet I cannot ignore the obvious tensions in Trump’s horoscope over the coming weeks.  While some stresses and planetary afflictions are to be expected when a president is undergoing impeachment hearings, Trump’s chart suggests it won’t be smooth sailing.  A quick trial followed by a painless Trump acquittal therefore seems unlikely given some of the alignments in February and March.

The early days of the trial look fairly good for Trump actually.   This week Jupiter will be closely oppose Trump’s Mercury while Mercury and Venus will be in supportive degreewise alignments.   However, there could be some difficulties starting on Jan 29-30 as Mercury aligns with Saturn and Saturn is opposite his natal Saturn.

Interestingly, this Saturnian theme of ‘blocked progress’ and ‘disappointment’ is also reflected in Trump’s 2017 Inauguration chart.  That chart has Saturn at 29 Scorpio and Mars at 0 Pisces.  Therefore, we will see this Mars-Saturn duo activated by the transiting Mercury-Saturn-Pluto alignment at the end of January.

Trump’s stress levels will likely increase further into early February.  Around Feb 5, Mars will align with Saturn-Pluto and this will in turn activate his natal Saturn (0 Cancer) once again.  Mars will also conjoin his Moon-Ketu conjunction and coincide with a period of intense anger and emotions.  Of course, by this time, Saturn will be opposite Venus (2 Cancer) so that suggests unhappiness and diminished status since Venus rules his 10th house or career and status.

Therefore, I would expect some setbacks for Trump during these two time windows.  One possibility is that some witnesses will be called and they will give damaging testimony.  This may not be enough to turn the GOP Senate against Trump, but it may create at least some uncertainty about the eventual outcome.  And more importantly, any damaging evidence could hurt Trump’s re-election chances in November.

So will Trump be convicted and removed from the White House or forced to resign?  I honestly don’t know but probably not.  But I would say that the longer the trial goes, the worse it will be for Trump.  That’s because there is a Saturn retrograde station coming up in April and May that will exactly hit his equal 6th house cusp (6 Capricorn) and therefore align with his Ascendant.

This will also conjoin the natal Sun in the 2017 Inauguration chart and represents losses and frustration involving government and leaders.  The Mars-Saturn conjunction at 6 Capricorn on March 30 highlights the beginning of this difficult transit period for Trump and the White House in general.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks are as frothy as ever here as US markets remain at all-time highs.  The Fed is doing its utmost to keep interbank lending rates low by pumping cash into the financial system.  Most of this liquidity is finding its way into the stock market through hedge funds and investment banks as the current bubble gets blown even bigger.  Clearly, the Federal Reserve is trapped as they cannot remove this support without causing a major decline in the stock market.  They may have no choice but to continue QE and the overnight repo operation for the foreseeable future.  One can only imagine what more extreme measures the Fed will be forced to do if a recession actually takes hold.

The planets this week suggest more upside is possible.  Tuesday lacks clarity so it could go either way.  But Jupiter will align with Mercury and Venus on Wednesday and Thursday so that ought to translate into at least some gains.  And yet the Saturn influence is still growing.  Last week’s Saturn-Pluto-Sun conjunction was something of a non-event but Saturn will again be prominent this week as it enters sidereal Capricorn on Thursday and Friday.   With the Fed meeting next Wednesday and all this Saturn energy around, I would think this huge QE-driven rally since October is likely due for a breather.  And who knows, if the impeachment trial provides some unwelcome surprises for Trump, that could introduce another source of instability for financial markets.

For more details and possible timing scenarios, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter which is published every Saturday afternoon (EST).   I outline the key technical and planetary influences for US and Indian stocks for the short and medium term, as well as currencies, gold and oil.