Trump to deliver statement Thursday on his impeachment acquittal

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, declaring “VICTORY” on Twitter, promised to deliver a statement from the White House at noon on Thursday to address his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate on two articles of impeachment.

Trump remained largely out of sight on Wednesday as the Senate reconvened as a jury in his impeachment trial for a final time. He was handed the acquittal that has long been expected, but was denied a unanimous Republican vote, after Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) voted to convict Trump on the first article of impeachment for abuse of power.

A previously announced plan for Trump to appear before reporters and photographers in the Oval Office, alongside Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, was scrapped shortly after Romney announced he would break ranks with Republicans and vote for a conviction.

Trump’s first response to Wednesday's vote came on Twitter, where he shared once again a short video depicting a doctored TIME magazine cover that envisions a Trump presidency well beyond 2020, until “4eva.”

White House and Trump campaign officials were quick to cast Trump’s acquittal as a victory for his reelection bid, even as Democrats described the trial as a “sham” and “charade” for not allowing the admission of new witnesses and documents related to Trump’s order to withhold military aid from Ukraine as he sought an investigation into his Democratic political rivals.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, in a statement, denounced House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump last month, and said Trump “is pleased to put this latest chapter of shameful behavior by the Democrats in the past, and looks forward to continuing his work on behalf of the American people in 2020 and beyond.”

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking at a “Women for Trump” campaign event in Pennsylvania, told eventgoers that House Democrats “had their say … come November we’ll have our say.”

Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, noting the record amount of campaign contributions Trump has collected since the start of the impeachment proceedings, said “since the president’s campaign only got bigger and stronger as a result of this nonsense, this impeachment hoax will go down as the worst miscalculation in American political history.”

The Trump campaign experienced its strongest fundraising quarter of 2019 during its final three months, during the height of the U.S. House impeachment inquiry hearings into Trump. Trump raised $46 million in campaign contributions, including $5 million raised on Dec. 18, the day the Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump in a party-line vote.

Shortly after Wednesday's vote, Trump’s campaign dispatched a fundraising appeal via email.

The message, signed by Trump, said: “Sorry haters, I’m not going anywhere.”