Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate on Wednesday after his historic impeachment trial, with the support of all but one Republican elected official, and without any Democratic voice. 52 of the 100 American senators declared the president not guilty of the chief of abuse of power and 53 of the chief of obstructing the smooth running of the Congress, adopted on December 18 in the House of Representatives.
"A witch hunt"
The United States Constitution requires a two-thirds majority (67 seats out of 100) to remove a president. Even before the vote, formula warfare had started on the lessons to be learned from this exceptional procedure. Donald Trump has been "acquitted forever", claims the White House. Donald Trump has been "indicted forever," say the Democrats.
The opposition accuses the 45th president of the United States of having used the means of the state, in particular a military aid validated by the Congress, to try to force Ukraine to "dirty" its possible opponent with the presidential Joe Biden . Since the scandal broke, Donald Trump claims to be the victim of a witch hunt orchestrated by his opponents who would not have digested his surprise victory of 2016.
Election impact difficult to predict
The trial divides both Americans and their elected representatives: 85% of Democratic voters support the removal of the president, less than 10% of Republicans are for it, and the average is slightly below 50%. Its impact on the elections is therefore difficult to predict, but Donald Trump says he is convinced that voters will penalize "democrats-who-do-nothing".
The Democrats have warned: they will not stop there. Elected Jerry Nadler said on Wednesday that the House would "likely" convene former White House adviser John Bolton after the trial is over. He appears to have embarrassing information for Donald Trump, but Republican senators refused to hear him during the trial.