(28 June 2022) It’s been a tough week for former President Donald J. Trump.  Today’s Congressional testimony in the January 6 committee highlighted Trump’s angry and agitated behavior that day in which he tried to take the wheel of the presidential limo in order to drive towards the ongoing riot at the Capitol.  While Trump has dismissed the White House staffer’s testimony as untrue, it nonetheless creates bad optics for the former president in the lead-up to the midterm elections in November.

Of course, it is unclear how politically relevant the committee’s findings will be in November given the more current concerns such as the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, surging inflation and the geopolitical dangers of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.   But in the short term, the House hearings are proving to be a big negative for the GOP as they try to deflect and distract attention away from the more alarming and unsavory aspects of the January 6 events.

We can see Trump’s compromised situation in his horoscope.  Today’s testimony occurred as both Mars and Pluto formed hard aspects to his Venus-Saturn conjunction in the 12th house.  This is a very difficult alignment.  Pluto has been opposing Trump’s Venus-Saturn conjunction for several months and represents powerful, coercive forces that seek to undermine his status.  Venus is the ruler of the 10th house of career and status and it is placed in the 12th house of concealment and loss.

The faster-moving Mars influence is more specific to this week’s testimony and reflects the attack (Mars) on his status (Venus).  The rest of the week may well bring additional embarrassments for Trump since the Mars square to Venus will tighten.  On Thursday, the Moon-Mars-Pluto t-square will hit his Venus very closely indeed.  I would think that Trump’s reputation could take a further beating this week.

Zooming out a bit, Trump’s larger problem is that he is in the midst of tense aspects from two different outer planets.  Pluto will remain in opposition to his Saturn and Venus throughout this year and into 2023.  This will make it more difficult for him to move ahead and realize his goals for the next 12-18 months.   In addition, transiting Neptune (1 Pisces) is square to his Sun (29 Taurus).  A Neptune-Sun square is generally regarded as an unwelcome influence that saps vitality and creates confusion, deception and a loss of life direction.

Interestingly, Neptune stationed retrograde today and thus became more powerful in its damaging effects on Trump’s Sun.  Slow-moving Neptune will remain in a fairly close square aspect with Trump’s Sun for the rest of 2022.  This suggests that his reputation will stay tarnished for a while longer and political influence is likely to remain in a weakened state.

But Trump’s status and influence could begin to recover in 2023 as Neptune will move out of alignment with the Sun.   As it happens, this will coincide with the usual campaign launch dates for 2024 presidential election.  As incredible as it seems, Trump’s chart actually has some very strong features for November 2024 —  stationary Jupiter on his Sun, and Uranus on his Midheaven (10th house cusp) to name just two obvious ones.  While I haven’t fully analyzed his chances of winning a second term, his chart definitely warrants further investigation.   More to come on that front in the weeks and months ahead.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks are continuing to move in a sideways chop in recent days as inflation concerns are keeping interest rates elevated.  US markets extended their bounce last week but look less bullish this week after today’s sell-off.  Last week I thought stocks would be vulnerable to declines around the time of the Mars-Saturn-Rahu alignment from about June 23 to June 27.  That forecast missed the mark somewhat as stocks were surprisingly bullish on Thursday and Friday and only finally declined today — one day after the exact Mars-Saturn aspect.  That is always the challenge with astrology — while we can measure the planetary geometry exactly, the timing the manifestation of a planet’s effects requires more interpretation.

Even though Mars is just now moving past its exact aspect from Saturn, it still within range and thus makes the market vulnerable to further downside.  Also, Mars is due to form a 90 degree alignment with Pluto on Thursday and Friday.  This suggests that stocks could stay under pressure for a few more days yet.  As I noted last week, the transit outlook in the NYSE chart still looks difficult and is unlikely to see substantial recovery anytime soon.  Saturn (0 Aquarius) will stay in close 60-degree aspect to the natal Moon (28 Pisces) well into July while transiting Rahu (27 Aries) aspects natal Mars (27 Leo).  Neither of these are considered bullish influences.

For more details, check out my weekly subscriber newsletter which is published every Saturday afternoon (EST).   In addition to reviewing the key planetary and technical influences on US and Indian stocks for the short and medium term, I also provide an astrological analysis of potential upcoming moves in currencies, gold and oil.