President Donald Trump slams 'evil' and 'corrupt' impeachment process following Senate acquittal
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
President Donald Trump has attacked the impeachment process as "evil" and "corrupt", following his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate.
In his hour-long speech, Mr Trump said described the impeachment trial as "a very unfair situation", he added: "We went through hell, unfairly, did nothing wrong - did nothing wrong".
The 73-year-old faced being removed from office over charges he abused his power by attempting to sway Ukraine into investigating political rival Joe Biden, and then obstructed Congress attempting to investigate the issue.
The Senate acquitted him on both charges.
It means Mr Trump will remain as President and brings to a close only the third presidential trial in American history.
Entering the East Room of the White House, to raucous applause, the President said: "We've all been through a lot together, we probably deserve that hand for all of us.
In a wide ranging speech, the President went on to repeat a number of the phrases he has come to use to refer to the impeachment process, calling it a "witchhunt" led by "dirty cops".
Speaking to supporters in the White House, the 73-year-old said: "This should never ever happen to another president - ever.
"I don't know that other presidents would have been able to take it".
He added: "If this happened to President Obama, a lot of people would be in jail for a long time already.
"Many many years."
In speech laden with personal references to those gathered in the watching crowd, the President said the accusations against him had started from the day he won the 2016 Presidential election.
Holding up a copy of The Washington Post with the headline "Trump acquitted," the 73-year-old asked the First Lady Melania Trump: "Maybe we can frame it?"
Mr Trump thanked his family in the conclusion of his speech, hugging his daughter Ivanka and kissing his wife Melania who joined him onstage for his finals thanks.
He said: "I want to thank my family for sticking through it, this was not part of the deal."
The President also referred to House Democratic impeachment manager, Adam Schiff, as a "corrupt politician".
Referring to a phone call with the Ukranian leader at the centre of the impeachment argument, Mr Trump said:
"Adam Schiff made up my statement to the Ukranian President.
"He brought it out of thin air, just made it up."
Details of the conversation with the Ukrainian president released in September 2019 show Mr Trump tried to coerce him into an opening a probe into political rival Joe Biden.
Mr Trump used his speech to refer back to the 2016 Presidential election, describing the Democrats as "bad and evil people".
The President said accusations against him had started on the day he won the election, referencing the investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
Robert Mueller's probe into the US President's links with Russia concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove Donald Trump's camp colluded with the country.
In a speech filled with ad libs and addresses to those in the audience, Mr Trump described impeachment as "a very ugly word [...] a very dark word".
In his first formal speech since his acquittal, the President said: "Now we have that gorgeous word, I never thought a word would sound so good.
"It's called total acquittal".
Mr Trump went onto consult prompt cards and listed a number of people in the audience whom he wished to thank.
He referred to some individuals as "great warriors".