Trump vs Harvard & Putin
Saturn enters Aries, Trump picks his 9th house targets. As indicated by the headlines & the cosmos
I’ve been trying to figure out how Saturn moving into Aries (and Neptune moving into Aries to an extent) will impact Donald Trump.
On Saturday May 24, Saturn, the planet of discipline (the “father of the sky”), moved into Aries (the “baby of the zodiac”), setting up a series of restrictions and tests in this area of life. That it’s time to get serious, rather than keep putzing around.
For Trump, it’s happening in his 9th house, the area of his life having to do with spirituality, religion, expansion, and higher education (law, policy, college, etc.—anything above high school).
Put plainly, how he sees the world, suggesting that his overall outlook may shift in the next couple of years.
Typically, we would believe this transit would be more focused on the actions and behaviors of the individual. Aries, after all, rules the 1st house of the zodiac and therefore the self. Maybe it is, but individual decisions and behaviors take on a different level of…importance?…when said person is president.
What’s really interesting about this Trump transit is that we can already see it playing out. Trump, unlike his predecessors, has made it his mission to take down elite universities. Under the guise of anti-semitism, Trump effectively hamstrung Columbia University. But, compared to how the administration is treating Harvard University, that was nothing.
Harvard is far from a perfect place. You’d be surprised how many people on campus are self-aware of that. When I was a graduate student there, I took a class on Religion, Politics & Democracy (9th house themes), taught by E.J. Dionne. It was a graduate-level class, but the class was offered to a select handful of undergraduate students.
The undergrad perspective was eye opening. For example, one week, I gave a lecture about cancel culture, which prompted a discussion of just how intolerant the student body was to ideological diversity of thought. One young woman talked about how she had questions about the Palestine-Israel conflict, (this was in fall of 2021, so, well before October 7, 2023), and America’s blind support of Israel. She was verbally skewered during that discussion, which discouraged her from further speaking out.
Another conservative student spoke about how he felt he needed to hide his beliefs from his peers. From the range of personal anecdotes, to the guest speakers that we had across campus, it was clear Harvard needed to do a better job of encouraging discussion across the spectrum.
In Professor Dionne’s classroom, we worked to create that space that allowed for civil discussion on the differing of opinions. On politics and religion no less: topics too taboo for a first date or family Thanksgiving, but ones that should always be up for discussion in the classroom.
There was a growing self-awareness and desire on campus to embrace more perspectives, but, as indicated by the reports Harvard conducted during the 2023-2024 school year, published this spring, having self awareness didn’t change the perceived environment of intolerance. Of fear, even hatred.
Upon releasing the reports, President Alan Garber alleged that he had heard universally that the conditions for students are better this year, but, so far, this is hearsay. We don’t have data to support it.
On April 11, the Trump administration’s Anti-Semitism Task Force sent a list of demands to Harvard that the university must comply with to receive funding.
The list went beyond just combatting antisemitism. It stipulates that Harvard must “reform” nearly its entire catalog of graduate schools, professors, and courses.
Under the administration’s guidelines, the program I enrolled in — Health and Social Behavior — to receive my masters in public health would cease to exist.
It’s far reaching.
The government also requires Harvard eliminate any programs that emphasize Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)— public enemy #1 of this administration.
Before we go any further, I want to extrapolate on DEI. DEI does not deprioritize white people. It does not hurt men or challenge existing opportunities. It simply acknowledges imbalance, that this country has a history of structural racism, which can hurt people who don’t look like white, rich, Founding Fathers.
It’s like small businesses versus corporate giants like Amazon.
There’s an inherent disparity in the market where Amazon plays. And, while you can’t — or don’t even really want to— eliminate that, you can help support small businesses who may otherwise not have a fighting chance. Having a Small Business Administration doesn’t hurt giants, but it acknowledges the disparity.
That’s DEI. It’s an acknowledgement that everyone may have begun at the same starting line, but that there are groups of people who received permission to start the race early. Leaving others to collect the dust.
It’s different than affirmative action, which is a set of civil-rights era (1960s) policies that tried to mitigate discrimination on the basis of race, or any other factor. Which the Supreme Court overturned in 2023, ruling that Harvard’s race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions were discriminatory.
I hope this helps.
Columbia fell to the administration, Harvard decided to fight back. They published the letter, and shored up legal counsel. And thus the nation’s probably most well-known university with one of the largest endowments became a face of the anti-Trump resistance.
Trump didn’t like that.
A week after publicizing the letter, the administration began freezing billions in federal funding. Harmful, and seemingly an overreach, but not surprising given the DOGE-level funding cuts simultaneously taking place.
Then, Trump announced he was revoking Harvard’s tax exempt status, a severe financial impairment. Harvard protested calling the move extremely illegal, and began readying their legal team.
Then, last week, the Department of Homeland Security revoked Harvard’s ability to accept international students. Starting this academic year 2025-2026. Meaning that existing students have a choice to transfer to another school, or lose their legal status. 27% of Harvard’s student body is international, so the move is rather significant.
Harvard subsequently filed an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) which was granted on Friday, allowing Harvard to admit students while the case proceeds. A hearing will take place this Thursday, May 29, to determine whether the TRO should be extended.
This morning, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) government agency apparently sent a letter to all federal agencies urging them to cut all existing ties with Harvard and find new contract vendors. In total, Harvard stands to lose approximately $100 million more in federal funding.
And their only recourse is the law. And to hope that the Constitution can be interpreted in their favor.
Saturn in Trump’s 9th house indicates that this fight is far from over. Nor that it stops at Harvard. In fact, I think there is something about this fight that Trump takes personally, and that he is carrying out a long-held vendetta. I don’t really know whether he applied and was denied Harvard admission, or if any of his kids were. In fact, I don’t really know much about Trump’s relationship with higher education except that he transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate business program at the University of Pennsylvania for a couple of years, graduating in 1968.
Coincidentally, or not so much, he transferred to Wharton the fall of 1966. A few months later, Saturn moved into his 9th house, and over the next couple of years he experienced the same Saturn in the 9th house transit that he’s entering into now.
Every sign in astrology has a ruler. For Trump, Mars rules his 9th house, and it’s in his 1st house of self. Meaning, that there is something that angers him about these topics, that he chooses to take action on, that he, again, takes personally. He feels as though it’s a reflection of himself and will fight against it.
I don’t know what happened in 1996-1999, the next (and most recent) time Saturn was in Aries, but I do know that a few years later he started, the now defunct, Trump University. There’s something about education that bothers him, and that he has worked, for decades, to mold into his own desired image.
With someone who had less power and less money, this transit would probably mean that they are working on going back to school, or taking action to put themselves out there in the academic world. To expand mentally, spiritually, or geographically. But when you’re president, it takes on a different interpretation.
Which leads me to the second part of this transit: Trump’s relationship with the world. The 9th house rules abroad, international, “long distance trips.” Think of it as the house of expansion — whether mentally, emotionally, or physically. Saturn and Neptune there means that we’ve got restrictions and confusion regarding Trump’s relationship with the world. Again, for someone who isn’t the president, this would probably mean that they are wanting to take the ideal trip (Neptune) or move to the perfect place (Neptune) but feel some sort of innate restriction (Saturn) which is confusing (Neptune).
For Trump, however, it’s a bit different. During Saturn’s last transit in Aries in his 9th house, Trump purchased the Miss Universe pageants. Now, as president, he is seeking to rewrite the international legal order in his desired image. And, frankly, he has the power to do so.
Throughout Saturn’s entire time in Aries, Neptune will be there. In fact, they will be dancing around each other all July, overlapping (making what’s called an exact conjunction) on February 20, 2026.
Geopolitically, this is rather significant. The last time Saturn and Neptune made an exact conjunction, the Berlin Wall fell.
It was a literal dissolving (Neptune) of boundaries (Saturn).
In fact, Saturn-Neptune conjunctions have coincided with huge, historical turning points in Russian history. There was the 1917 Saturn Neptune conjunction, which history nerds know was the year of the Bolshevik Revolution, when Vladimir Lenin (yep), seized power and overthrew Tsarist Russia. Leading the way to the creation of the Soviet Union.
The next Saturn Neptune conjunction occurred in 1952-53. The year that Joseph Stalin died, and Vladimir Putin was born.
Also early years of Cold War tensions, culminating with Sputnik in 1957.
Then, 1989, the Berlin Wall falls, creating what we now know as modern Russia.
Modern Russia too has been impacted by any relationship made by Saturn and Neptune (known as an aspect).
In 1999, Saturn & Neptune make an opening square aspect: Vladimir Putin becomes Prime Minister and, following Boris Yeltsin’s resignation, subsequently president.
In 2006-2007: Saturn & Neptune make an aspect opposing each other: Putin dissolves the Russian government “to have a free hand.”
In 2015 & 2016: Saturn and Neptune make a closing square aspect: In 2015, astrologer Ray Merriman predicted that, starting in 2016, Russia would re-enter the world stage as a global superpower.
That year, Putin is thrust back into the limelight, with questions arising regarding Russia’s election interference.
Merriman predicted that there’s a new Russia model that is being built and won’t be finished until 2026. Russia then will enter its own new cycle, perhaps starting anew.
What’s really fascinating about this is that Vladimir Putin was born under a Saturn-Neptune conjunction. Meaning that he will play a huge role in what happens in Russia over the next year. Kind of obvious, duh, he’s in charge. But, he will be leading Russia into this next epoch, and honestly probably not be around to witness its development.
Which brings me back to Trump. During his second presidential term, Trump has increasingly lost patience with Putin. This week, however, he’s taking on a completely different tone. Completely.
This morning, for example, he tweeted:
“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realize is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!”
Over the weekend, he also called Putin “absolutely crazy.”
This is a huge departure from Trump’s congenial, and thus the U.S.’s, rather congenial disposition towards Putin and Russia in general. Where, for example, no tariffs were placed on Russia during “Liberation Day.”
It seems, however, that the days of Trump favoring Putin are over, or at least on the back burner for now.
He’s apparently considering new sanctions on Russia. And he’s growing frustrated that Russia has yet to send the United States a “memorandum of peace,” in ending the war.
Russia meanwhile, threatened WWIII in response to Trump’s tweet that Putin is playing with fire. Not great, considering that, as I’ve written, the upcoming Uranus in Gemini transit has led to U.S’s involvement in a war every 84 years it’s occurred (World War II, Civil War, Revolutionary War). I digress.
Trump has his own relationship with Russia mirroring the synodic cycle of the Saturn-Neptune conjunction. In 1987, two years before the Berlin Wall fell, Trump first visited Russia, a visit potentially orchestrated by the KGB. Putin was a KGB operative at the time, though it’s unclear whether the two knew each other.
Now, here we are at the beginning of a brand new Saturn-Neptune cycle, and thus a new chapter in the relationship between Trump and Russia. If Trump was fearful of Russia before, he seems to have abdicated his fear now. Believing that he can pressure Russia and Putin just as he has done to other countries.
Just like Harvard, it feels like there’s something about Trump’s relationship with Putin that he takes personally. And I think this Saturn in Aries transit means that he will no longer kowtow to Russia. That he won’t let Putin strong man him.
Which we honestly have no idea what that looks like, but we are getting a glimpse now.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Other than finding it extremely fascinating, I think having historical references can help situate the present and indicate the future.
Does it mean I think we’re going to war or that Harvard as we know it will be dissolved? Not necessarily, but I don’t know that it doesn’t mean those things either.
It means that the United States will have to pick a side on how to handle Russia, and that failing to do so can result in us being taken advantage of or for a new axis of powers to form. It means that Trump will continue to remake the world into his image, but that he will need to use words, rather than resorting to actions. But, I think he will start acting on impulse. It means that the fight with Harvard is far from over.
For us, I think 2025-2026 will be a year that we never could have seen coming. I know, we’re all tired of unprecedented times — feels like it’s been nonstop since 2020. But I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet, and that this year will really shape the next epoch of American history. Perhaps even academia, and the world as we know it.
Alright, that’s it from me, your resident, academic astrologer. Will be back soon with a standard news report!
Until then, adios!
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