Trump:  Eyes on the Prize

By Alex Miller

The Nobel Peace Prize, that is.  A much-vaunted peace talk summit meeting between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin on August 15^th in Alaska may have thrown a spanner into the works as Donald Trump avidly pursues his own Nobel Peace Prize.  The interview yielded little in the way of substantive agreement on how to end the three-and-half-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, perhaps preventing Trump from checking off another box on his one-sided “anything you can do, I can do better” competition with Barack Obama, who earned his own Nobel even before taking office in 2009.

But effective or not, the Trump/Putin summit is clearly reflected in the skies, identifying the players and a likely reason why negotiations failed.  With Mars (5 Libra) opposed (180 degrees) the Saturn/Neptune pairing (both at 1 Aries), it certainly looked like a good time to end (Saturn) a war (Mars), but uncertainty, bad faith and deception (all Neptune qualities) ruled the day, leaving the world disappointed (Neptune), frustrated (Saturn) and angry (Mars).  So much had been hoped for (Neptune), so little realized (Saturn), just wasted energy (Mars).  Asteroids can further refine this planetary picture, starting with asteroid Alaska (6 Capricorn), on the fulcrum of a T-Square (1) with the basic polarity, identifying the venue for the fruitless talk. 

Speaking of talking, that’s Mercury’s bailiwick, ruling discussions, negotiations, decisions and agreements.  We see it here (5 Leo) conjoined asteroid Russia (4 Leo) and opposed Pluto (2 Aquarius), which speaks to the magnitude of destruction and devastation wrought to both countries from this war, but principally to Ukraine, as the focus of Russian aggression and criminal actions (both Pluto as well).  A second T-Square is formed with asteroid Whitehouse (6 Scorpio), signaling the current occupant of the Oval Office as one of the interlocutors (with the president of Russia as the other).

Vladimir Putin personally is on full display, complete with his trademark cat-who-ate-the-canary grin, as asteroid Vladimir (26 Leo) conjoined the spotlighting Sun (22 Leo).  Donald Trump, on the other hand, is taking a backseat for this one, with asteroid Donn (24 Gemini) in a somnolent sextile (60 degrees) to the Sun, showing an opportunity (sextile) that was largely wasted.  However, Donn also adds to the overall picture of the summit, being conjoined by asteroids Moskva (25 Gemini), Russian for Moscow, its capital, and Richardson (22 Gemini), pinpointing Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage as the venue for the talk.

Part of the difficulty is the basic lack of trust many people have with Trump, and thus, with the US government.  No one is ever sure if Trump means what he says, says what he means, or is just posturing, bluffing, bloviating, or in bombastic mode.  This is displayed by a pairing of asteroids America (23 Cancer) and Washingtonia (24 Cancer), on the fulcrum of yet another T-Square formed by the opposition from asteroid Kassandra (25 Aries) to asteroid Nemesis (26 Libra).  America and Washingtonia represent the US and its capital, Kassandra relates to issues of trust, credibility and belief (named for the Trojan prophetess doomed to speak the truth, but never be believed), while Nemesis represents opponents or enemies, as well as signaling ruin, failure or roadblocks and hindrance to progress, often self-created.

One obvious fault in the basic setup for this summit was the lack of inclusion of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, or any representative of his beleaguered country, in these peace negotiations.  This is starkly depicted by an amazing exact triple conjunction of Jupiter with asteroids Ukraina and Kiev (all at 14 Cancer), opposing asteroid NOT (18 Capricorn).  Jupiter rules international relations and diplomacy (co-ruled by Venus, also present, at 17 Cancer), Ukraina is named for Ukraine, and Kiev is the former, anglicized spelling of its capital, Kyiv.  NOT acts as a general disqualifier or symbol of negation, here pointing to Ukraine being left out in the cold in the talks so central to its future.

Trump has been gradually ratcheting up his pressure on the Nobel Committee, preparing to announce the 2025 Peace Prize winner in early October, by touting his many peacemaking efforts globally (like bombing the Houthis and Iran?).  Reportedly, he has even approached the Norwegian Finance Minister to lobby for his candidacy.  A peace agreement, even a ceasefire, between Russia and Ukraine (or Israel and Hamas, for that matter, which also eludes him), would certainly be a feather in his Nobel cap, but the summit ended without any indication that this was likely.

There is hope for Trump’s cherished dream however, with asteroid Nobel, named for the awards’ creator, crisscrossing his natal Sun this fall, and asteroid Pax (Latin for “peace”) squaring it.  By the time the awards are presented on December 10^th, Nobel will exactly conjoin Trump’s natal Uranus, also conjunct his Sun, perhaps indicating the controversy (Uranus) to inevitably ensue were he to win the Peace Prize.  Pax then will conjoin his natal Neptune, so a disappointment (Neptune) may be forthcoming.

It’s unlikely Trump will end the war in Ukraine before then.  But a ceasefire is certainly possible, with Mars approaching NOT in square later this month, exact on September 3^rd, just as NOT reaches its station (2) on the following day, greatly enhancing its power to terminate.  That could conceivably spell a war (Mars) stoppage (NOT).  The degree of their square (17 Libra/Capricorn) is an exact match for Donald Trump’s natal stationary direct Jupiter (17 Libra), which has often pulled his fat out of the fire in the past.  Will Trump get lucky (Jupiter) again?  Only time will tell.

Notes:  (1) a T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more plantes in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

(2) a planetary station occurs when a body appears to slow its motion, come to a standstill, and reverse course.  It’s an optical illusion from our perspective, based on the triangulation of the sun, Earth, and a third celestial body, but astrologically, it represents a condensation and enhancement of the energies involved, a pivotal turning point or crisis, or a momentous development.

Sources:  chart data from serennu.com and true-node.com; chart diagrams by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT