Birth chart's potential: Will Trump get a second term?
There are many ways to approach a birth chart. Some still use it as a tool for “fortune-telling”, but I always prefer to see it as indicating a person’s potential. As this is the US presidential election year, countless astrologers have already given their take on who will win the election by using a myriad of techniques and concepts.
However, I think one very important perspective is still missing, namely, a solid assessment of the natal potential of the presidential candidates. It’s common for astrologers to look at the transits, progressions, solar arcs, solar returns, etc of individual candidates to assess their chances, but very few have really looked at their natal charts first. Forecast techniques like transits, etc just show the timing in which natal potential could unfold. Nothing could unfold if the natal potential is just not there.
This article aims to fill this gap by looking at the natal potential of Donald Trump for having a second term in office (I also wrote one about Hillary Clinton in early April 2016, expressing doubts about whether she would ever become US president).
Trump’s Lunar Eclipse
It’s well-known that Trump was born during a Total Lunar Eclipse (though invisible from his birth town New York City), just before the Greatest Eclipse (i.e. when the Moon is closest to the centre of the Earth's umbra), so the Moon in his birth chart is approaching to an exact opposition to the Sun:
(Donald Trump's birth chart)
How to interpret an eclipse in a birth chart? As I was also born on the same day of a Total Lunar Eclipse, visible from my birthplace, I asked my teacher about it when I started learning astrology years ago. Probably because there hadn’t been a lot of research around, even my teacher couldn’t say. But over the years I’ve discovered that the key to interpret natal eclipses is to study the aspects that the Sun and Moon make to the rest of the chart. This is because the planets triggered by an eclipse would be “unleashed” on a massive scale.
In Trump’s chart, the Lunar Eclipse aspects Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and the nodes (the nodes are always close by in any eclipse, just a matter of proximity) and most importantly, Uranus in Gemini, which is conjunct his Sun in the 10th house and opposite his Moon in the 4th.
Therefore, in his chart, Uranus in Gemini is unleashed on a massive scale and because it’s a Lunar Eclipse, it isn’t just “unleashed” big time, it’s actually unleashed to the maximum possible extent. It represents the climax of whatever Uranus in Gemini means, after having accumulated energies for a long time.
Uranus passed through Gemini during 1941-49. In terms of natal potential manifesting in the most constructive way, Uranus in Gemini is the epitome of “brevity is the soul of wit”. It indicates very effective communication skills, an agile intellect, an inventive mind that fosters exchange of ideas, an ingenious ability to relay different messages to different people and to tailor-make the message to suit the unique characteristics of an audience. It also disrupts rules, norms and mindsets which have become too inflexible and in need of reforms.
As Uranus is about rebellion, breaking with conventions and disrupting the status quo, Uranus in Gemini is also adept at saying things that no one else has ever publicly said - but that act in itself doesn’t necessarily mean what’s being said is true or not.
However, if Uranus in Gemini is manifested destructively, truthfulness and wilfulness will be major issues. Ideas, thoughts and decisions will get so erratic that the person just says one thing this minute and then something completely the opposite the next - and then denies he’s ever said any of that! As long as what’s thought and said serves the need of the moment (or because “he likes it”), the person will treat it as good as anything, not caring whether there’s any truth to it or what the longer-term ramifications would be.
As Trump was born during a Lunar Eclipse, whatever Uranus in Gemini means is 100% unleashed, good or bad. In fact, I see him as an example of what a person could possibly achieve when his Uranus in Gemini is unleashed to the maximum effect - he could actually become the President of the United States, the most powerful office in the world!
As Uranus is a generational planet, his ascent to the presidency represents the accumulation of a (global) trend which has been going on for decades: People just say whatever they like, without any sense of responsibility and without having to bear any consequences, and Trump is the result that people get. He doesn’t just represent himself. He embodies a global trend, an individual who represents many other people who behave similarly like him. He’s just the most prominent one, as indicated by his birth during an eclipse lying across his 10th-4th houses.
The Meaning of “Second Term”
So will he get a second term? I think commentators have somehow missed what it means for an incumbent president to get a “second term”: A “second term” always implies “continuation” and “maintaining the status quo”, even if it’s a status quo of chaos and wilfulness which could worsen. But I don’t think his natal potential indicates he could really “continue with” anything (except for one thing, see below) - because he’s simply someone who “breaks the status quo”, with Uranus in Gemini unleashed. How could he get a second term when he himself is already the status quo, the incumbent?? He could only break it, however unwittingly! This is why as a political newbie, posing himself as a challenger to the establishment worked four years ago, but not when he’s already in office like this time.
In general, having a personal planet, like the Sun, conjunct the outer planets is always a challenge for the person because that ties the individual inseparably from the collective. It gives the person a sense of extraordinary power because he feels he's part of something much bigger than himself. But sometimes the person can also feel overwhelmed by forces beyond his control ("The whole world is against me!"). In the case of Trump who has his Sun conjunct Uranus, while he personifies a norm-breaking culture, he as an individual could also be crushed by norm-breaking, rebellious forces stirred up by the general outrage he's created. Therefore, a personal planet conjunct an outer planet, even if it's not Uranus, is always an unstable combination and continuity will be an issue.
His Second House Stellium
Another astrological indicator of why I don’t think he can continue with his presidency is his second house. Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter are in his second house, all in Libra which is a cardinal sign. The second house shows the tools and assets that the person could make use of to get what’s valuable to him, to help him further life’s journey. With planets in the cardinal sign Libra in the second house, this means he’s good at initiating things, but lacks staying power.
The stellium of Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter is an uneasy mix. While Neptune and Chiron are similar (both suggest “loss and disappointment”), Jupiter is the opposite, symbolising hope, promise, faith and advancement. With these in his second house, this means Trump could make use of people’s disillusions with the status quo by promising something better in the future for his own ends. This worked for him four years ago.
However, as he’s already in power, I really can’t see how people who feel “disillusioned” with the status quo that he is and still vote for him. Of course, Neptune also means “lies and deception”, but that only works best when a track record is absent, like when he was a political newcomer in the last election. But now, after four years in office, his track record is already plain for all to see if they want to, meaning whatever lies and deception are deployed, it won’t be as effective as last time anymore.
For anyone with Neptune, Chiron and Jupiter in Libra in the second house, I don’t think this is good for any career that requires “solid, actual work”. This explains why Trump has had at least five bankruptcies as a real estate businessman who ran hotels and casinos. It was a cycle of "boom-and-bust" for him, initial successes followed by financial ruin, reflecting precisely the uneasy mix of Neptune+Chiron (loss) on one side and Jupiter (gain) on the other.
But that stellium is excellent for hype, branding, publicity, image-building and make-believe of one sort or another (including something artistic), so I think working in the entertainment industry, especially acting, is best for such a planetary combination. The closest thing Trump has done in that direction (and making the most constructive use of that stellium) is to host the reality TV show “The Apprentice” which ran for 14 seasons. He was in his element there and so it was the only thing in his career that he’s managed to carry on for years and with success.
Notice that I’ve been talking specifically about whether Trump would get a second term in office, and not about whether he’ll “win” in the upcoming election. Normally the two should go hand-in-hand, but this year’s situation is different which I may explore in another article later. Nevertheless, I still would like to address his much-discussed nodal return in early November when polling takes place.
His Nodal Return
Depending on whether you use the True Node or Mean Node, in early November Trump would have his nodal return (for True Node) or the North Node conjunct his Sun (if you use the Mean Node). I always prefer the True Node because it works better in my experience.
Many interpret the nodal return as a favourable time for the person. But again I don’t think this is meaningful without looking at the natal chart, just like any other transits. As Trump was born during a Lunar Eclipse, his Sun and Moon (the most important personal “planets”) lie right across the nodal axis. As the Moon is conjunct the South Node, it’s hard for the person to fully assimilate the lesson represented by the North Node, simply because he’s still very attached to the South Node! So the nodal return doesn't necessarily mark an unequivocally “favourable” time in Trump’s case. It’s likely to be a “half-half” scenario.
Moreover, it also depends on how you interpret the transiting North Node being in Gemini and the South Node in Sagittarius. I see this axis as about “empty claims vs evidence”. Four years ago Trump ran on the slogan of “Make America Great Again”. It was a vision, a promise (Sagittarius), so after four years, has that vision and promise materialised? Is it supported by evidence (Gemini)? His nodal return around Election Day suggests this is a critical moment in his life (and because he’s the president, it’s also an important juncture for the country): No matter what vision he had about his life 18 years ago (the time taken for a nodal return), early November will show him the result. It’s therefore a very karmic time too.
Conclusion
In any case, we can conclude that UNLESS there’s suddenly a widely popular third party candidate in the election, if Trump just won’t have a second term, then I think the Biden-Harris ticket (except somehow they can't take office either) will form the next administration.
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Based in Hong Kong, Belinda has got over 10 years of chart-reading experience and holds four university degrees, including Psychology and Counselling. Before becoming a professional astrologer, she was doing a highly stable and well-paid job. She switched careers because astrology had simply changed her life… Read on
