The verdict is not guilty, Trump acquitted.

US. President Donald Trump won impeachment acquittal Wednesday in the US. Senate, bringing to a close the third presidential trial in American history with votes that split the country.

On the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, the vote was 52-48 favoring acquittal. The second, obstruction of Congress, also produced a not guilty verdict, 53-47.

The outcome followed months of remarkable impeachment proceedings, from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, reflecting the nation’s unrelenting partisan divide three years into the Trump presidency.

What started as Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate potential corruption spun into a far-reaching, 28,000-page report compiled by House investigators, accusing a sitting American president of engaging in shadow diplomacy that threatened US. foreign relations for personal or political gain, and pressuring a foreign ally to investigate a Democratic rival ahead of the 2020 election. However, evidence brought forth during the nearly three-week trial disproved the second claim as it was clear that Trump made the request to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, more than a year prior to the candidate even announcing his run for the presidency.

The president claimed he did nothing wrong, decrying the “witch hunt” as an extension of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian 2016 campaign interference by those out to get him from the start of his presidency.

McConnell braced for dissent, but with a 53-47 Republican majority he refuted efforts to prolong the trial with more witnesses, saying he was "perplexed" by Democrats' arguments that the evidence against Trump was overwhelming and obvious, but at the same time, more witnesses and evidence were desperately needed.

He called the proceedings a "thoroughly political exercise," and added that ironically, Pelosi was right "in the beginning" when she didn't want to go down this path.

A Gallup poll released this week showed record-high approval numbers for Trump and the Republican Party in general, suggesting the impeachment proceedings may have backfired politically for Democrats. The Republican Party's approval numbers were at their highest since 2005, and Trump's were the highest of his presidency.

The White House asserted that the "sham impeachment attempt concocted by Democrats ended in the full vindication and exoneration of President Donald J. Trump." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, signed off on the Senate judgment later Wednesday.

Sources (AP, FOX, GALLUP)