Acquittal for Trump cloaked in divisions

US President Donald Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday following a historic impeachment trial that shone a harsh light on the country's divisions, without ever shaking the loyalty of his voter base.

In a political triumph for the US leader, Trump drew on staunch Republican support to easily defeat a Democratic effort to expel him from office for pressuring Ukraine to help bolster his reelection effort.

The president immediately claimed "victory" while the White House declared it a full "exoneration"－and Democrats rejected the acquittal as the "valueless" outcome of an unfair trial.

But the vote in the Senate showed just how solid a grip Trump holds over the Republican Party－an asset nine months before he seeks a second four-year-term.

Even though several conceded Trump's behavior was wrong, Republicans ultimately stayed loyal in voting to clear the president. On a charge of abuse of power, the vote was 52 to 48, and on the second charge, of obstruction of Congress, it was 53 to 47. The Democrats needed a two-thirds supermajority for conviction.

"Two thirds of the senators present not having found him guilty of the charges contained therein, it is therefore ordered and adjudged that the said Donald John Trump be, and he is hereby, acquitted," said Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided over the trial.

One Republican, Senator Mitt Romney, a longtime Trump foe, risked White House wrath to vote alongside Democrats on the first count, saying Trump was "guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust". He voted not guilty on the second charge.

Trump now joins two other presidents who were impeached but acquitted: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999.

Romney became the first senator in US history to vote to remove from office a president from the same party. "The president is guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust," Romney said before the vote.

The Senate verdict was never truly in question since the House of Representatives formally impeached Trump in December, and it has now cleared out a major hurdle for the president to fully plunge into his campaign for reelection in November.

Responding to the verdict, Trump announced he would deliver a formal statement on Thursday from the White House "to discuss our Country's VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!"

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry on Sept 24. The House voted to authorize it Oct 31. No House Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Trump in December.

700 tweets or retweets

Trump decried the impeachment process as politically motivated and unfair. Since Pelosi opened the inquiry in September, the president has posted nearly 700 tweets or retweets criticizing the impeachment.

The acquittal came just a day after the president gave his State of the Union address in the House chamber where he was impeached. The annual event was televised and it put on display the bitterness and divisions between Trump and Pelosi.

When Trump stepped up to the rostrum and handed her a copy of his speech, per custom, Pelosi rose and extended her hand to shake his. Trump turned his back, and the speaker quickly withdrew her hand.

Pelosi then omitted the customary laudatory words in her introduction of the president: "I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States." Instead, she said simply: "Members of Congress, the president of the United States."

When Trump ended his speech, Pelosi tore up her copy of his prepared remarks.

As she left the Capitol Building on Tuesday night, Pelosi told reporters she tore up the speech "because it was a manifesto of mistruths".

The moment Pelosi tore up the speech was instantly replayed hundreds of times on television and resulted in praise and ridicule on social media. Vice-President Mike Pence called it a "new low".

Pelosi then issued a statement explaining why she tore up the speech.

"The manifesto of mistruths presented in page after page of the address tonight should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the president and policies worthy of his office and the American people," she said.

Agencies and <span class="epaper-contributor">Ai Heping</span> in New York contributed to this story.