“Investors of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your gains!” – Trumpunist Manifesto
If anyone doubted Donald Trump’s repeated campaign promises in 2024 that, if elected, he would impose sweeping, massive tariffs on foreign imports, all such doubts evaporated on April 2, 2025, when the US President kicked off a global trade war. Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” appears to be working just fine, if the goal was to liberate more cash from Americans’ pocketbooks. With tariffs applied to virtually every country on Earth, even some unpopulated South Pacific islands (but excluding Russia – surprise!), increases in costs from 10% to 49% have roiled global financial markets.
Investors reacted quickly; Trump made his announcement at the close of business for the New York Stock Exchange, and within 48 hours, the Dow had shed $5 trillion of value, down 7.9% for the week. Every major stock market across the world suffered similar losses, with the exception of China’s Shanghai Composite Stock Market—ironic, given that China is the focus of most of Trump’s protectionist ire. The selloff continued on Monday April 7, with wild fluctuations throughout the day, as investors and pundits alike tried to read the future in various Trump social media posts or utterances from himself or Cabinet officials. Were the tariffs permanent, or just a negotiating tactic?
A week after instituting the tariffs, pressure to reverse the policy had built to the extent that Trump was given no choice but to declare victory and issue a 90-day pause on all but a general 10% across-the-board tariff, exempting only China from the pullback. After a selloff in US Treasury Bonds began on April 9, threatening US global economic hegemony; within hours, Trump pressed “pause” on the insanity, and relieved investors began the climb back from the abyss, with US stock markets posting record single-day gains which, however, haven’t come close to replacing the lost value.
Trump, of course, touted the gains as his doing, without claiming the losses that preceded them. Trump crowed that some 70 nations were now pleading to cut deals, queueing up to, as he put it, “kiss my ass.” His statements justifying the policy change were, as usual, a tissue of lies, exaggerations, baseless claims, and braggadocio. But there was one kernel of truth embedded in them, when Trump averred that, “No other president would have done what I did.” On that point, we have total agreement.
Despite the relieved rebound, the 10% tariff remains, as do targeted tariffs on certain commodities, and the threat of reimposition of greater amounts when the pause expires. As well, China had retaliated with greater tariffs, with Trump responding in kind, escalating their private trade war in the interim, so that the US now imposes a 145% tariff on all goods from China, its third-largest trading partner.
Whatever their duration, whatever their cost, however much havoc these tariffs may wreak, fiscal dystopia appears to be a feature of the Trump 2.0 administration, based in key warning factors in the Inauguration chart of 20 January 2025.
For starters, the administration Sun at 0 Aquarius conjoined Pluto at 1 Aquarius indicates a power-hungry (Pluto) regime run by billionaires (Pluto again), intent on political and economic manipulation and coercion (also Pluto) to attain its end of total transformation, via breakdown, destruction, and reassembly (all Pluto), all without too much concern for any criminality (Pluto once more) that may result from the means. These are the most self-defining (Sun) features of the administration, but feeding into this is a semisquare to a cluster of Saturn at 16 Aquarius with an exact Venus/asteroid Donn 4689 pairing at 17 Aquarius, which further colors its composition. Venus rules financial matters, Saturn encourages loss, limitation, or restriction, and Donn points to the source of all this fiscal (Venus) hardship (Saturn) as Donald Trump himself.
How this may be accomplished can be seen in an opposition from Mercury at 18 Capricorn, ruling commerce, to Mars at 24 Cancer, ruling conflict. This is a very plainspoken rendering of “Trade (Mercury) War (Mars)” in celestial language, and a T-Square formed with the Moon at 18 Libra defines the general populace (Moon) as those most affected.
What has emerged since then is a further refinement, in type and timing, of the present imbroglio. Unremarked at the time of the inauguration, but glaringly significant now in hindsight, are two conjunctions which reflect the market crash in cosmic detail. The appellation “Liberation Day” as a PR tool to promote the tariffs probably wasn’t even thought of when Donald Trump took the oath of office, but we can look back now and see it as asteroid Liberati 6417, closest to “liberation,” which at 2 Sagittarius is conjoined by asteroid Plunge 144742 at 28 Scorpio, alluding to the precipitate drop in market value from the much-vaunted trade policy. This pair is opposed by Uranus at 23 Taurus, indicating shocks, surprises, upsets, and volatility.
The second pattern reinforces the first, with an exact conjunction of asteroids Markert and Swings at 12 Virgo. Markert is closest to “market,” and Swings speaks for itself of the instability in markets which will likely continue throughout the term, however short-lived these tariffs may be. With this duo sesquiquadrate the administration Sun, the tendency for wild fluctuations in financial markets is baked in the cake – a feature, if you will, not a bug.
On the timing front, though he picked away at the margins with lesser tariffs aimed at major, allied trading partners such as Canada and Mexico, Trump held most of his fire until after Venus and Mercury had turned retrograde on March 1 and 15, respectively. The retrograde status here is significant, as these tariffs are the most regressive (retrograde) fiscal (Venus) trading policies (Mercury) the US has seen since the end of the 1800s. The triggers for implementation were Venus’ station degree of 10 Aries and Mercury’s station degree of 9 Aries, both squared Trump’s natal Mercury at 8 Cancer, placing “revenue” (Venus) and “commerce” (Mercury) top of mind (natal Mercury) for the 47th president, and impelling the translation of his ideas into policy (both Mercury). A Solar Eclipse two weeks later on March 29 at Mercury’s station degree supercharged the process, with Trump unveiling his worldwide tariffs just four days later.
The chart for the global selloff that began on April 3 shows the situation in stark detail. The Sun at 13 Aries is exactly trine asteroid Plunge at 13 Sagittarius, accompanied by asteroid Liberati at 19 Sagittarius, and also sesquiquadrate asteroid Markert at 27 Leo accompanied by asteroid Swings at 29 Leo. The Sun in aspect to both conjunctions has now revealed and illuminated what wasn’t as obvious in the inauguration chart.
Both Liberati and Swings are embedded at station, making them key factors of the timeframe, to be followed shortly by their traveling companions, which change direction from the adjoining degrees. And market (Markert) swings (Swings) with plunging (Plunge) values were certainly the fallout from Liberation Day (Liberati). In addition, the Plunge/Liberati pairing squares asteroid Icarus 1566 at 19 Pisces, a point noted for rash, reckless acts, taken heedless of the consequences, despite advice warning against them, leading to disaster. Liberati/Plunge is also on the Apex of a Yod, or Finger of Destiny, with inconjunct aspects to Uranus and asteroid Losse 340579 at 24 Taurus and 20 Cancer, signifying the sudden, unexpected (both Uranus) dramatic loss (Losse) in market value.
An eye-popping quadruple conjunction of Saturn, Venus retro, Mercury retro, and Neptune, at 24, 26 & 27 Pisces, and 0 Aries, respectively, shows the fantasy-based, unrealistic (both Neptune) thinking (Mercury) that led to this tremendous financial (Venus) loss (Saturn), with an estimated $10 trillion in market value evaporating in that first week after the implementation.
As well, the underlying ethos of the period is a Grand Cross of Pluto at 3 Aquarius opposed asteroid Troemper 28130 (our celestial referent for The Donald) at 6 Leo, squared by asteroids America 916 (for the US) at 8 Taurus and Whitehouse 4036 (for the administration) at 5 Scorpio. This shows Trump (Troemper) reveling in his power (Pluto), with his administration’s (Whitehouse) policies at odds with the country’s (America) best interests.
Donald Trump’s likely effect on financial markets can be surmised from placements in his birth chart, and in the chart of the New York Stock Exchange. Pluto rules vast sums of money, the billions and trillions, and Trump’s natal Pluto at 10 Leo is joined by asteroid Plunge at 4 Leo, opposed asteroid Swings at 13 Aquarius, with a stationary asteroid Markert bisecting that angle from 10 Libra, in sextile and trine. Markert’s stationary status suggests that the market’s reaction will be a key factor in Trump’s biography, while the modifiers suggest a sudden drop (Plunge) and ongoing volatility (Swings) resulting in devastation (Pluto).
For the Dow Jones Industrial Average, based at the New York Stock Exchange, the losses have been heaviest and most dramatic. This can be seen in asteroid Dow 40328, which at 26 Virgo opposes the Saturn/Venus/Mercury/Neptune stellium, describing the evaporation (Neptune) of wealth (Venus) and financial (Venus) hardship (Saturn) created by Trump’s policies (Mercury). Founded 15 May 1792, the NYSE is prone to fluctuation to some extent with its 27 Taurus Sun conjunct asteroid Swings at 28 Taurus. Note that Uranus, the ultimate disrupter, came to its retrograde station last September exactly conjunct the NYSE Sun, and now, having resumed direct motion, is closing in once again, from 24 Taurus. And right there, aiding and abetting, is natal asteroid Troemper, at 5 Gemini, representing the man born with a Sun/Uranus conjunction!
From there Troemper squares a conjunction of asteroids Plunge and Nemesis 128 at 8 and 13 Virgo, helping to define his role in bringing ruin and destruction (Nemesis) to the NYSE. Not to be outdone, the Plunge/Nemesis duo is sesquiquadrate natal asteroid Donn at 28 Capricorn, which is itself at station and trine the Sun, making The Donald a pivotal influence in its history. Nemesis is also at station, as is asteroid Liberati, at 14 Capricorn, trine Plunge/Nemesis and sesquiquadrate Sun/Swings, identifying Trump’s now-infamous “Liberation Day” as a formative agent.
It was the imminent cratering of the bond market that mandated the trade war ceasefire, as exemplified by asteroid Bondia 767 at 25 Gemini (closest to “bonds”) in the implementation chart, semisquare asteroid America at 8 Taurus and closely squared the Saturn/Venus conjunction at 24 and 26 Pisces. This speaks to the potential for the loss (Saturn) of the US (America) Dollar as the world’s reserve currency (Venus), had the bond selloff continued.
China’s exemption from the general tariff amnesty, and the insane escalation in the trade war between the two countries, can be see as asteroid China 1125 at 10 Gemini, conjoined inflationary, expansive, and over-the-top Jupiter at 16 Gemini. Jupiter increases whatever it touches, for good or ill, promoting going to excess or extremes, like the “sky’s the limit” tariff one-upmanship between Washington and Beijing. As well, asteroid Peking 2045 (antiquated westernized spelling of Beijing, China’s capital) at 27 Virgo closely opposes the Mercury/Venus/Saturn conglomerate, with Trump’s harshest criticism (Saturn) and rhetoric (Mercury), and stiffest economic (Venus) penalties (Saturn), reserved for the communist nation.
It’s too early yet to know what the ultimate outcome will be of this misadventure, but many financial institutions and economics experts are still predicting up to a 40% chance that the US will enter recession in 2025, despite the rollback. Regardless, the remaining 10% tariff globally, and the 145% tariff on Chinese goods alone, will doubtless result in higher prices for consumers, rising inflation, and perhaps even a nostalgic yearning for the Biden years as “the good old days.”
Title Image Credit: generated by Craiyon
Alex Miller is a professional writer and astrologer, whose website AlexAsteroidAstrology.com offers a trove of info on the role of asteroids in personal and mundane astrology. He is the author of The Black Hole Book (available on Amazon.com) and The Urban Wicca, former editor of “The Galactic Calendar,” and past president of The Philadelphia Astrological Society. His pioneering work with Black Holes in astrological interpretation began in 1991, when his progressed Sun unwittingly fell into one. Alex’s books and writings are available on his website. Alex can also be reached for comment or services at .
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