Trump impeachment trial: What verdict means for Trump, Biden and America

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Only five days after it began, Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial has concluded. As was widely predicted, the final verdict was that the former president was not guilty of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol last month.

There have now been four presidential impeachment trials in US history, and this one was by far the shortest.

What it lacked in duration, however, it will make up in consequence. A precedent - a former president standing trial - was set. Reputations were burnished and tarnished. And a tumultuous stage was set for political battles to come.

Here's a look at some of the key players, and how they emerged from this moment in US history.

Donald Trump

New trial, same outcome.

Trump once again avoided conviction by the US Senate because his fellow Republicans, by and large, stuck by his side. The final tally was 57-43, which left the prosecution 10 short of the two-thirds majority required.

That, at its most basic level, is a win for the former president. He is still eligible to run for president again in 2024, if he so chooses. His base, by all indications, is still largely intact. Both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, most Republican officeholders opposed the impeachment proceedings - and those who broke ranks are already facing ferocious criticism and, in some cases, formal reprimands from their Republican constituents.


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