Trump has been acquitted by the Senate after a controversial impeachment trial that dominated the world news and divided the US.
In December Donald Trump became the third President of the United States to be impeached, however, like his predecessors, Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, he was not removed from office.
The impeachment trial began as a result of the Democrats charging him with pressuring Ukraine to smear a potential political rival. The Democrats had launched an impeachment investigation in September after a whistleblower filed a complaint that Trump planned to solicit foreign interference in the upcoming 2020 elections.
Last night the Senate, run by his fellow Republicans, voted to acquit Trump 52-48 on the charges of abuse of power and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress. If he had been convicted on either charge he would have been removed as the 45th president and would have had to hand the office over to his Vice-President Mike Pence.
Mitt Romney of Utah was the only Republican to vote in favor of convicting Trump, he voted “guilty” for abuse of power and “not guilty” for obstruction of Congress. He is the first senator to vote to remove a president from his own party in an impeachment trial.
Trump tweeted:
Now, Trump will be the first impeached president to seek re-election. The elections take place on 3rd November 2020.