It's a disgrace: Trump on his impeachment

Washington - 'They're the ones who should be impeached, every one of them,' he said of Democrats.

The first line of President Donald Trump's obituary has been written.

While Trump is all but certain to avoid removal from office, a portion of his legacy took shape on Wednesday when he became just the third president in American history to be impeached by the US House.

The two articles of impeachment approved along largely partisan lines stand as a constitutional rebuke that will stay with Trump even as he tries to trivialise their meaning and use them to power his reelection bid.

"The president is impeached," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared after the vote. She called it "great day for the Constitution of the United States, a sad one for America that the president's reckless activities necessitated us having to introduce articles of impeachment".

Trump, who began Wednesday tweeting his anger at the proceedings, pumped his fist before an evening rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, boasting of "tremendous support" in the Republican Party and saying, "By the way it doesn't feel like I'm being impeached."?

"Crazy Nancy Pelosi's House Democrats have branded themselves with an eternal mark of shame," Trump told the crowd in Michigan. "It's a disgrace."

"They're the ones who should be impeached, every one of them," he said of Democrats.

The votes for impeachment were 230-197-1 on the first charge of abuse of power, and 229-198-1 on the second charge of obstruction of Congress.

Democrats led Wednesday night's voting, framed in what many said was their duty to protect the Constitution and uphold the nation's system of checks and balances. Republicans stood by their party's leader, who has frequently tested the bounds of civic norms.

The trial is expected to begin in January in the Senate, where a vote of two-thirds is necessary for conviction. While Democrats had the majority in the House to impeach Trump, Republicans control the Senate and few if any are expected to diverge from plans to acquit the president ahead of early state election-year primary voting. - AP