The Manifest Destiny Into the Stars

On January 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was sworn in to be the 47th president of the United States.

In his inaugural address, President Trump declared a "golden age" for America with his plans to boost domestic oil production, impose tariffs on both Canada and Mexico, and crack down on our borders.

And to the delight of the tech billionaires sitting in the front row, he also promised to send astronauts to plant the American flag on Mars vowing, “We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars.”

In doing so, and using the specific phrase “Manifest Destiny,” President Trump intentionally tapped into a deeply rooted American concept.

“Manifest Destiny” was first coined by John O’Sullivan in the July-August 1845 issue of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review.

Here’s what he said:

“Texas is now ours… Her star and her stripe may already be said to have taken their place in the glorious blazon of our common nationality; and the sweep of our eagle’s wing already includes within its circuit the wide extent of her fair and fertile land. She is no longer to us a mere geographical space — a certain combination of coast, plain, mountain, valley, forest and stream. She is no longer to us a mere country on the map. She comes within the dear and sacred designation of Our Country… other nations have undertaken to intrude themselves… in a spirit of hostile interference against us, for the avowed object of thwarting our policy and hampering our power, limiting our greatness and checking the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.

California will, probably, next fall away from the loose adhesion which, in such a country as Mexico, holds a remote province in a slight equivocal kind of dependence on the metropolis. Imbecile and distracted, Mexiconever can exert any real governmental authority over such a country. The impotence of the one and the distance of the other, must make the relation one of virtual independence; unless, by stunting the province of all natural growth, and forbidding that immigration which can alone develop its capabilities and fulfil the purposes of its creation, tyranny may retain a military dominion, which is no government in the, legitimate sense of the term.

And whosoever may hold the balance, though they should cast into the opposite scale all the bayonets and cannon, not only of France and England, but of Europe entire, how would it kick the beam against the simple, solid weight of the two hundred and fifty, or three hundred millions — and American millions — destined to gather beneath the flutter of the stripes and stars, in the fast hastening year of the Lord 1945!”

When reading O’Sullivan’s commentary, I can’t help but notice distinct correlations between his word choice, and the very things President Trump talks about to this day…

Policy, Power, Greatness.

Mexico being imbecile, distracted, and impotent.

Back then, the belief that the United States had a God-given right — a destiny — to expand its territory across North America quickly spread and was a direct cause of the Mexican-American War in May 1846.

On Feb. 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, transferring California to the United States and establishing the Rio Grande (and not the Nueces River) as the U.S.-Mexican border.

It was bad luck for Mexico, as only nine days before was when gold was first discovered in California, ultimately leading to the rapid influx of fortune seekers hoping to carve their wealth out of the California Gold Rush.

It’s worth noting that while the added territory was a huge win and served as a key turning point in our nation’s history, it came at a cost. The new land had an unresolved issue: slavery. This issue of the laws that would govern this new territory ultimately lit the fuse that set off the Civil War, a war that continues to divide our country to this day.

180-Degree Tension in America

I bring this all up for several reasons.

John O’Sullivan made his case for Manifest Destiny in 1845, exactly 180 years ago.

The number 180 is important. In astrology, the number 180 is opposition, it represents a time when a person needs to navigate between two extremes.

The 180-year cycle between the birth of Manifest Destiny and Trump’s modern-day vision of space exploration creates an opposition, a moment of intense change where two vastly different ideas — rooted in conquest and territorial expansion — are forced to face each other.

The expansionist vision that once drove America all the way to the Pacific persists today. In the 19th century, it was all about conquering new lands, claiming America’s glory, securing resources and wealth, and stretching not only our influence but our dominance.

Now in 2025, our world is dramatically different. Our purpose has changed. Instead of looking outward to more land, Trump is calling to secure control in a limitless frontier — our celestial destiny in the cosmos. So, we find ourselves at a precipice between past and future, land and space, and what is tangible and what is theoretical.

But the old vision to conquer and expand and the celestial destiny ring eerily similar at their cores — to innovate, to dominate, to be #1.

As Trump calls for a new Manifest Destiny in space, America faces the opposition of two forces: the economic realities of today’s globalized market and the unpredictable, high-risk gamble of space exploration.

It’s a bet that America can reinvent itself in the cosmos while its financial stability teeters on the edge.

This tension between speculative ambition and practicality has seeped into the markets as well, and you have probably felt it yourself. Investors are constantly torn between the allure of innovative technologies, speculative fast-moving stocks, and even the dream of overnight crypto wealth, versus the tangible, steady returns offered by established assets like commodities, financials, and bonds — much like the sectors we track here at The Map.

Ole-Reliable

I may be biased when it comes to reliable trades. As you know, at The Map, our strategy is based on trading four exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which serve as proxies for four important markets: equities, government debt, energy, and precious metals.

We’ll sometimes enter a trade outside of these areas if I see an opportunity, but I’ve found over time that staying anchored in our core four — SPY, TLT, XLE and GLD — is the way to build lasting wealth.

Over the past two weeks, I issued recommendations to short both the SPY and GLD.

In those alerts, I highlighted how I expect that SPY and GLD will reach their respective peaks over the next week as we approach the New Moon and Lunar New Year of the "Wood Snake" on January 29th. I see us entering a period of heightened market volatility and these short positions will set us up to benefit.

But these trading decisions also reflect the broader tension we’re seeing in today’s economic landscape, a trend I highlighted when discussing Trump’s plans.

Investors are wrestling with conflicting narratives, and that tug-of-war will be reflected in our financial markets.

Again, as we approach the Lunar New Year, the financial markets are fighting with themselves… optimism battling realism, growth clashing with fear, and speculation wrestling with stability. For traders like us, this is not a time to be swayed by emotion or market noise.

But that brings us to how all of these geocosmic moves converge.

The Year of the Snake

2025 is the year of the Wood Snake. In Chinese astrology, the Snake symbolizes wisdom, intuition, and transformation. The Wood element gives a sense of grounding, growth, and strength.

Trump promises a golden age, a period that seems to perfectly align with the Year of the Wood Snake.

I’m inclined to believe him. If we use history as our guide, there is another Year of the Wood Snake that comes to mind: 1845, when Manifest Destiny took hold of the American psyche and brought us to where we are today.

And so we come full circle, but not without caution.

We shouldn’t kid ourselves… while the stars are enticing, the financial markets remain firmly rooted on Earth and economic realities don’t care much for lofty undertakings. In truth, we don’t deal in dreams, we deal in trends, fundamentals, and probabilities. After all, whether it’s gold rushes or moon landings, the ones who thrive aren’t chasing the glitter — they’re selling the shovels.

So as tempting as it is to chase the next big thing, I believe the winners in 2025 will be those who trade with patience, and precision, and who keep their investments anchored in fundamentals. That is the only path I see for avoiding speculative traps and capitalizing on the market cycles we’ll witness this year.

We’re using both our SPY and GLD shorts to position ourselves in such a market. As is with any transformative year, I expect 2025 to be full of volatility but also opportunity, as long as we play it right.