Alex's Asteroid Astrology

The witness box, that is.  And the pecker in question is David Pecker, National Enquirer publisher, long-time Trump friend and political ally, and currently exhibit A in the Manhattan DA’s criminal case against the former US president.  Everybody knew that Pecker, once he’d gone soft on Trump, was gonna spew, but nobody knew how hard he could make it for The Donald.  (And that’s the last of the cheap double entendres you’ll get from me in this article.  Maybe.)

The prosecution’s lead witness, over four days of eyepopping, devastating testimony that must have been excruciating for Trump to hear, Pecker laid a solid foundation for conviction.  The media mogul explained the full extent of the “catch and kill” schemes that the two entered into in their August 2015 meeting, just after Trump kicked off his presidential campaign.  Pecker agreed to buy the stories of Trump sexual partners and then refrain from publishing them and other negative articles, specifically with a view to preventing the electorate from learning these inconvenient facts.  The testimony also included a breathtaking rendition of the two men’s creation of “fake news” stories designed to burnish Trump’s image and denigrate that of his Republican presidential nomination rivals, like accusing Ted Cruz of having affairs, and doctoring photos to implicate his father in JFK’s assassination; falsely alleging Dr. Ben Carson had left a sponge in someone’s brain after surgery; and running stories about Hillary Clinton having just six months to live, during the general campaign.

The symbiotic relationship between Trump and Pecker dates back decades, to when Trump provided lots of fodder for National Enquirer readers, with his matrimonial troubles, high-stakes casino lifestyle, and popular TV show “The Apprentice.”  Trump made for good copy and boosted sales; in return, and out of respect for their friendship, Pecker shelved negative stories.  Rumor has it, Pecker kept a safe which held the most damning information he controlled, some of which related to Trump. 

And that fact may help to explain Trump’s public reaction to Pecker’s devastating testimony against him.  Where anyone else in his orbit who so much as steps a toe out of line gets excoriated on his social media and pilloried to the press, Trump’s only comment post-Pecker-testimony was, “He’s a nice guy.”  Oh, yeah, the dude’s got a lot on The Donald!

Be that as it may, their connection is easy to see from celestial synergy.  Born 24 September 1951 (no time available), David Pecker sports one point at station in his birth chart:  asteroid Troemper 28130, our cosmic referent for Donald Trump.  At 24 Taurus, not only is Troemper stationary (turning retrograde September 30^th), indicating a pivotal role to play in Pecker’s biography, but it exactly conjoins Trump’s natal Midheaven, governing career, reputation, status and place in the world.

Confirming that Pecker can be pivotal in his career, Trump’s natal asteroid Davida 511 (feminine form of David) at 24 Cancer conjoins his exact pairing of Saturn (ruling career) and asteroid Karma 3811 (the consequences of our actions) at 23 Cancer, as well as Venus (finances, love affairs) at 25 Cancer.  Reiterating his importance, Trump’s natal asteroid Pecker at 27 Capricorn opposes all these, doubling down on the publisher’s ability to influence his career.  Saturn is also where we are held accountable, responsible for meting out punishment; and Karma has implications for paying for prior misdeeds.

The other inimical (but useful in this context) connection between them comes from both men’s natal asteroid Nemesis 128 placements.  Nemesis represents ruin, downfall or destruction, often self-created, and contacts from one chart to another can signal one individual playing out Nemesis’ role of providing comeuppance to the other. 

In this case, Pecker’s natal asteroid Davida at 18 Cancer conjoins asteroid Askalaphus 4046 at 11 Cancer, representing the witness, and casting Pecker in the role of truth-teller, making him personally (Davida) credible (Askalaphus) in a courtroom setting.  These conjoin Trump’s natal pairing of asteroids Nemesis and Bilk 4425 at 16 Cancer.  Bilk suggests fraud, typically in a financial context, but applying broadly to all forms of willful deception for gain.  Opposing this is Pecker’s natal asteroid Whitehouse 4036 at 18 Capricorn, representing the US presidency, with a T-Square formed by his natal Neptune at 18 Libra, planetary ruler of deception and conspiracy.  How appropriate, then, is David Pecker’s (Davida) testimony (Askalaphus) regarding his collusion (Neptune) in Trump’s efforts to confuse, misdirect (Neptune) and defraud (Bilk) the American people during a presidential run (Whitehouse), leading now to his potential downfall (Nemesis)? Also with Askalaphus/Davida is Uranus at 13 Cancer, signaling that Pecker’s (Davida) testimony (Askalaphus) could be shocking and explosive.

As well, Pecker’s natal asteroid Nemesis at 19 Virgo closely squares Trump’s natal Sun at 22 Gemini, in a T-Square with the Moon at 21 Sagittarius.  This says that Pecker’s innate ability to act as a nemesis to someone (Nemesis) is directly focused on Trump (Sun).  Nemesis’ conjunction with Mercury at 15 Virgo and asteroid Smuts 1731 at 20 Virgo suggests that the potentially damaging (Nemesis) material under consideration for a newspaper or magazine (depending how you want to class the National Enquirer) article (Mercury) deals primarily with Trump’s sexual escapades with porn actresses and Playboy models (Smuts).

Over all, a Mercury/Nemesis/Smuts combination is an excellent one to have, if you publish a scandal sheet and routinely promote or squash sexual peccadillo stories.  And Pecker’s long career in publishing is also prefigured by his Sun/Saturn (career) conjunction at 0 and 4 Libra, opposed Jupiter, ruling publishing, at 10 Aries.  A T-Square with TNO Salacia 120347 and asteroid Donn 4689 at 1 and 6 Capricorn specifies smut (Salacia) as Pecker’s stock-in-trade, and puts Trump (Donn) back in the hot seat, as Salacia specifically relates to that which is salacious (being the Latin root of that word), i.e. something tawdry, scandalous, spicy or sensational, especially in a sexual context.

David Pecker’s personal connection to this trial in particular is foreshowed by a natal T-Square, with asteroid Pecker on its fulcrum at 3 Leo, squared to both asteroid Bragg 11150 (for prosecuting DA Alvin Bragg) at 8 Taurus and a cluster of asteroid Clifford 4276 at 5 Scorpio with asteroids Daniela 107054 and Alvin 13677 (also for the DA), both at 9 Scorpio. The trial is commonly referred to as the “Stormy Daniels hush money case,” and asteroids Daniela and Clifford represent that (with Daniels’ legal name of Stephanie Clifford). The celestial timing, as always, is perfection itself, with a Full Moon (signifying completion and coming to fruition) at 4 Scorpio on April 23rd, during Pecker’s testimony, activating the pattern.

When the Trump trial began in Manhattan on 15 April 2024, asteroids Davida and Pecker, at 2 and 15 Aries respectively, were among the witness PNAs (Personal-Named Asteroids) which conjoined asteroid Bragg (the DA) at 7 Aries, indicating David Pecker (Davida, Pecker) as firmly in (conjunction) the prosecution’s camp (Bragg).  But in addition, Pecker is squared Trump’s natal Nemesis, bringing his native ability to facilitate the former US president’s downfall into real time.   

As the trial unfolded, asteroid Pecker rolled on to its exact square to Nemesis, appearing at 18 Aries for the start of his testimony on the 22^nd, from where it exactly squared Trump’s natal Davida placement at 18 Cancer (conjoined natal Nemesis), further strengthening Pecker as an agent of Nemesis.  Transit Nemesis at 27 Cancer not only conjoins Trump’s natal Saturn/Karma/Venus grouping (indicating it’s time to pay the piper – Saturn – for prior misdeeds – Karma – relating to financial arrangements and lovers – Venus – involving career – Saturn), but exactly opposes his natal Pecker at 27 Capricorn, bringing the karmic wheel full circle.

Some assert Pecker’s testimony at the start of the trial may have come prematurely, and would have been more satisfying if delayed.  But Pecker is a seminal witness for the prosecution, with explosive testimony, and bore up stiffly under cross examination from Trump’s defense team, which was unable to penetrate his aplomb or lay a hand on him.  If anything, Pecker’s testimony of the continued friendly intercourse between the two men made him a more credible witness to the jury, as someone without an axe to grind against Trump.  And that must make this court appearance by Pecker even harder to swallow.

(OK, I said no more cheap pecker shots, but I didn’t promise.)