Trump Courts Disaster with “Beautiful” Tariffs

By Sue Kientz

On Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC, President Donald Trump announced new tariffs he planned to levy on countries all over the world.(1) Labeling the occasion “Liberation Day,” the event was treated as a celebration, claiming the United States was at the brink of boundless prosperity. Unfortunately, there was a “catch.” Trump explained it would take a little time for prosperity to kick in. The next day, stock markets cratered all over the world. Countries big and small cried foul, as many had trade agreements with the United States already, heavily negotiated ones, and some places didn’t even trade with the U.S. at all or even have a population – on two tariff targets, only penguins lived there!(2)

While some thought Trump would back off and cancel some of the tariffs once U.S. markets went haywire, as he has in the past, so far he has not budged. The rest of the week, U.S. and world stocks fell lower and lower as many in the know (economists, stock traders, former finance officials) warned of the very real possibility that America might fall into a recession. While many debate the pros and cons of Trump’s idea and his execution of it, this article aims to ask the question, is the United States facing a damaging recession, or even flirting with a more serious economic depression? Astrology has a way to look at past events from a truly “high-level” perspective and see if there are similarities that suggest the current situation is headed to a financial crisis with serious ramifications, like in 1929 after the Black Tuesday stock market crash led to the Great Depression that lasted through the 1930s, and the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis that began around the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and resulted in a multi-year worldwide recession. What can these two massively impactful events tell us about where we are now?

In 1929 when the NY Stock Exchange crashed,(3) there weren’t simple formations in the heavens associated with grave misfortune like Mars and Saturn in opposition or square (90 degrees). There were complex indicators that involved very slow, major bodies, some of which were not yet discovered at the time, much less their meaning well known. Pluto was not discovered until 1930 yet was a major player in the chart of Black Tuesday, as Mercury (19 Libra) and Venus (12 Libra) on that day were square Pluto (19 Cancer) and opposite a much later discovery, Sedna (15 Aries). We now know that Pluto represents control and manipulation, and when involved adversely with Venus, finances (Venus) can fluctuate or even get totally out of control (Pluto). Since Sedna was discovered in 2003, research reveals that Sedna can act depressively and as an agent of confusion,(4) so an opposition could cast a worrisome cloud on monetary affairs (Venus) and the specialists and analysts facing the problem (Mercury). Pluto-Sedna represented the forces that completely overwhelmed the system in 1929 – no one had control, it was chaos, confusion, and led to a “depression” indeed. Additionally, astrological “climate” indicators signaling that this was no transitory problem were large, slow planets moving into persistent and negative formations that lasted years. Saturn (26 Sagittarius) was confronted by an opposition to (another unknown at that time) dwarf planet Makemake (29 Gemini), agent of sudden shocks and unexpected events when adversarially placed.(5) Government leaders (Saturn) froze (Makemake), unable to decide what to do. Many thought the crisis would subside but, as time went on and Saturn kept moving from Sagittarius to Capricorn, Saturn formed a square with Uranus and Sedna in Aries and opposition to Pluto in Cancer. Saturn eventually moved on, but Uranus and Pluto remained square through the early and mid-1930s as the Great Depression continued, not truly dispersed until the U.S. entered World War II.

The triggers of the Great Recession and its aftermath(6) were eerily similar. Again, Mercury and Venus (both 19 Libra) and Mars (17 Libra) with (another unknown at the time) dwarf planet Haumea (14 Libra), signifier of vast, disruptive change,(7) all clustered in a square to Jupiter (12 Capricorn) when a key investment house, Lehman Brothers, abruptly became insolvent and no one was found to buy the company to avoid a domino effect of failures. When Lehman entered receivership on September 15, 2008, the Sun (23 Virgo) conjunct Makemake (24 Virgo) and Saturn (13 Virgo) were opposite Uranus (20 Pisces) and square Pluto (28 Sagittarius).(8) Just as in 1929, Saturn moved on but Uranus and Pluto (and for a time, Makemake) lingered in this long-term T-square until Uranus moved into Aries and Pluto into Capricorn. There, those two maintained a troublesome square for several years, similar to the 1930s Depression, but as Sedna was not involved, the effect was not as catastrophic.

Now with the current crisis, on fateful “Liberation Day,” Mercury (27 Pisces) and Venus (26 Pisces) were again conjunct, but moving retrograde or backward,(9) closer to Saturn (24 Pisces). Mercury and Venus were previously conjunct Neptune in late Pisces, reflecting how many Americans have been confused and feeling grave uncertainty (Neptunian experiences) due to the actions of President Trump and his associate Elon Musk, who promised to cut “waste and fraud” from the government. This reasonable aim, however, resulted in mass firings, widespread cancellation of government grants, and all sorts of ancillary actions and orders by Trump and Musk, executed in a whirlwind of activity often marred by errors and illegality that led to retractions and restorations of those jobs and contracts. But as “Liberation Day” dawned, and Mercury and Venus moved towards Saturn, you would think there would be calls for order, careful consideration, some effort to halt the madness and chaos (caution, retreat, reconsideration – all Saturnine) that last week’s presidential announcement generated. In fact, Mercury/Venus are not only close to conjunct Saturn, they are approaching a supportive sextile (60 degrees) to Uranus (24 Taurus), representating intellect, reason, and the freedom to think for oneself. Mercury/Venus are also in fortunate trine to Mars (24 Cancer), representing energy, action, and forcefulness. What has manifested in this vein are crowds of citizens on the street each day, complaining (Mercury in Pisces, communicating sorrowfully) about Trump and Musk, holding signs and yelling (both Mercury) that what is happening is terrible (Venus, a value judgment), and pleading that it be stopped (Saturn). Saturn is not going to square or oppose Uranus for decades, so that troublesome indicator of societal havoc is not the threat.

As for Pluto (3 Aquarius), it is trine Sedna and will maintain that positive angle for years.(10) Pluto will trine Uranus in just a few months, so there’s no conflict there. What has been problematic is, starting in 2022, Pluto has been closely square Haumea (2 Scorpio), coinciding with efforts of those in power (Pluto) to attempt or enact huge changes (Haumea) resulting in strong pushback (against abortion bans, inhumane treatment of immigrants, efforts to alter or suppress history of black and LGBT experience or discrimination, to list a few). These actions, while vastly detrimental, do not directly impact the finances of America and the world, as seen in the comparable historical events symbolized by Uranus, Pluto, Makemake, and Saturn. This crisis appears separate, not the result of vast numbers of people making unwise stock bets (1929 crash) or selling and buying risky mortgages (2008 crisis), but by one man, President Trump, who has unusual and almost universally discredited ideas of what tariffs can do to make a country rich. As Mercury (26 Pisces, turning direct today) and Venus (25 Pisces Rx, direct on April 11) cluster around Saturn (25 Pisces), this combination’s square to his Sun (22 Gemini)(11) show that there exists some agency, some effort that can prevent the president from triggering financial chaos as well as earning the stigma of pariah for himself and America. Saturn/Venus, closely together in coming weeks, in tandem with Uranus (25 Taurus) inching to exact square of Trump’s Mars (26 Leo), signal hope that conservative investors (Saturn/Venus, e.g., GOP congressmen(12) – Saturn – with wobbly investments – Venus), intellects, advisors, and friends (all Uranus) can and will challenge his inexplicable, destructive acts (Mars).

Title Image credit: Trump image: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, with slight color change by author; Stock market background image: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/5926718, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Notes and References

1. Barraza, Paris, “What time will Trump announce tariffs? April 2 marks ‘Liberation Day’,” 2 April 2025, Desert Sun, https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/nation/california/2025/04/02/trump-tariffs-announcement-time-liberation-day-april-2/82774977007/  
2. Mitchell, Ottilie, and Tiffanie Turnbull, “’Nowhere’s safe’: How an island of penguins ended up on Trump tariff list,” BBC, 4 April 2025, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8xlj0485o
3. Black Tuesday: 29 October, 1929, 5 p.m. ET, New York, NY; https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/stock-market-crash-of-1929
4. Kientz, Sue. “Sedna, Treasure from the Depths,” February/March 2015 issue, The Mountain Astrologer, pp 62-70; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Sedna-SueKientz_MtAstrol-Feb-Mar2015.pdf
5. Kientz, Sue. “Watch Out, it’s Makemake!” November/December 2014 issue, Astrological Journal, pp 43-49; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Makemake-SueKientz_AstrologicalJournal-Nov-Dec2014.pdf
6. “Great Recession,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession
7. Kientz, Sue. “Pluto and Haumea: Having Power, and Using that Power,” 30 June, 2015, NCGR eNews, Issue 215, https://moreplutos.com/articles/Pluto&Haumea-for-NCGR-News-WebVersion.pdf
8. Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy, 15 September, 2008, 12 noon EDT, New York, NY, personal files
9. All planets can appear to move retrograde, or backward in degrees as observed from Earth, due to the position of Earth sometimes moving faster than other bodies, so the other planets seem to drift backwards in the sky. Sun and Moon never appear to move retrograde.
10. Pluto is slowing down in its orbit and Sedna is speeding up.
11. Trump, Donald J., 14 June 1946, 10:54 a.m., Queens, NY (Birth Certificate), https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Trump,_Donald
12. Bolton, Alexander, “7 GOP senators sign on to bill to check Trump’s trade authority,” 7 April 2025, The Hill, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5236142-congress-tariff-bill-trump/

For more details about the angles or relationships between planets, see Lynne Hyde’s “Astrology Basics,” ANS, 12 November 2024, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-basics/