U.S. Senate acquits Trump in historic vote as re-election campaign looms

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump departs after delivering his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/POOL

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was acquitted on Wednesday in his U.S. Senate impeachment trial, saved by fellow Republicans who rallied to protect him nine months before he asks voters in a deeply divided America to give him a second White House term.

The businessman-turned-politician, 73, survived only the third presidential impeachment trial in U.S. history - just like the two other impeached presidents - in his turbulent presidency's darkest chapter. Trump now plunges into an election season that promises to further polarize the country.