(10 August 2022) The US political landscape has been turned upside down following the FBI’s raid on former President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago.  The unprecedented raid on the private home of a former president has created a firestorm of reaction comprised of equal parts indignant outrage and gleeful cheerleading as pundits scramble to determine its ultimate political impact.

It’s still early but it seems to have galvanized the GOP behind Trump even more than before.  Even though Florida Governor Ron DeSantis remains his leading rival to be the nominee in 2024, Republicans appear to be circling the wagons around Trump.  Of course, all this is subject to change depending on what the DOJ chooses to share regarding the legal justification for the search and what evidence was actually found.

Not surprisingly, Trump’s horoscope is suffering from several major afflictions these days.  Trump felt the impact of Monday’s Mars-Saturn square as it came to within just 3 degrees of his Midheaven (MC), or unequal 10th house cusp.  The 10th house represents status and career so this double dose of malefic energy was very likely to coincide with some kind of setback.  While the 10.54 a.m. birth time is from birth records and considered accurate, it is not unreasonable to think that it could be a few minutes earlier which would make the Saturn-Mars alignment that much closer.

The other transit that stands out is the Venus-Pluto opposition that activates his 12th house Venus.  The 12th house represents loss, isolation and confinement so this affliction highlighted this unfortunate natal placement.  The 12th house Venus conjunct Saturn is one of the classic astrological signatures for divorce and Trump is twice-divorced.  Venus is usually a benefic planet but it’s placement in the 12th with Saturn makes it more vulnerable to unwanted outcomes when it is transited by negative planets.

Venus not only pertains to marriage, but also to career since it rules the sign of Taurus which is in his 10th house.  The key point to note here is that the Venus-Venus conjunction isn’t the problem; rather it is the Pluto opposition that is activated by the faster-moving Venus.  With Pluto symbolizing power and coercion, especially of a Machiavellian nature, we see Trump here on the receiving end of the Democrats’ political wishes, as executed by the the DOJ and the FBI.

The other difficult influence here is that transiting Saturn (28 Capricorn) is now under the 5th house/120 degree aspect of natal Rahu (27 Taurus). Since Rahu is tightly conjunct the Sun in Trump’s natal chart, this Saturn transit is more likely to undermine Trump’s authority, sense of leadership and personal vitality.   And we shouldn’t forget that Trump’s Sun continues to be afflicted by the square aspect with Neptune as it has for the past year or so.  This Neptune influence has further damaged his fortunes since it has a dissolving influence upon the Sun.

Looking ahead, I think Trump will remain in the defensive for a while yet.  As I’ve written previously, his chart is significantly weakened by the dual afflictions of two aspects involving slow-moving outer planets: Neptune-90-Sun and Pluto-180-Venus.  Both will remain within range for the rest of 2022 and even into early 2023.  After it completes its current retrograde cycle in October, Saturn will again come under the negative influence of natal Rahu in December 2022 and January 2023.  This will be a particularly difficult time for him when the threat to his reputation and career could be at its greatest.

Democrats are hoping to indict him on criminal charges in order to make him ineligible to run in the 2024 election.  While his chart is certainly bad enough that I wouldn’t rule anything out for these next six months,  I still think Trump is likely to run in 2024 and stands a very good chance of winning.

Weekly Market Forecast

Stocks rallied today as the latest CPI report showed prices rose at a slightly slower pace of 8.5% in July suggesting that inflation may have peaked.  The rally follows some early week weakness that coincided closely with the tense Mars-Saturn square.  As it often the case, stocks tend to do better once an alignment involving malefic planets (e.g. Mars, Saturn)  begins to separate.

I would not be surprised to see some kind of pullback over the next few days given Thursday night’s Full Moon.  Full Moons have a slight bearish bias in any event, but this one is more likely to signal caution since it will form a conjunction with Saturn within just a few degrees.  The Sun-Saturn opposition is due to be exact on Sunday-Monday, so there is some additional downside risk heading into next week.

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.