Second impeachment of Donald Trump

Donald Trump, serving as the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021, one week before his term expired. On that date, the House of Representatives adopted one article of impeachment against Trump: incitement of insurrection. On February 13, 2021, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on the article of impeachment.

The House of Representatives of the 117th U.S. Congress adopted one article of impeachment against Trump of "incitement of insurrection", stating that he had incited the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol. The House impeachment managers formally triggered the start of the impeachment trial on January 25 by delivering to the Senate the charge against Trump. The trial in the Senate started on February 9. At the trial in the Senate, 57 senators voted "guilty", which was less than the two-thirds majority needed (67) to convict Trump, and 43 senators voted "not guilty", resulting in Trump being acquitted of the charges on February 13, 2021.

The trial was the first of its kind for a departed U.S. president: all other impeachment trials of presidents (those of Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Trump) occurred during their presidencies. Many Republican senators challenged the validity of holding an impeachment trial for a president no longer in office; proponents cited the Senate's 1876 trial of William W. Belknap, the secretary of war under President Ulysses S. Grant, who was impeached, but not convicted, after resigning from office immediately before a House vote on his impeachment.

This impeachment was the fourth impeachment of a U.S. president, and the second of Trump; his first impeachment was in December 2019.

In August 2023, Trump was twice indicted for the conduct at issue in his impeachment, once in Georgia and once federally. The federal charges were dismissed without prejudice in November 2024, due to the DOJ's policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents, subsequent to Trump's re-election that month.

For weeks prior to the impeachment, President Trump made numerous unsuccessful attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election.

Trump told his supporters to come to Washington, D.C. on January 6, the day Congress was counting the electoral votes, to the "March to Save America" rally at The Ellipse. During the rally, Trump as well as other speakers falsely claimed that the election was stolen, used the word "fight", made an analogy to boxing, and suggested that his supporters had the power to prevent President-elect Joe Biden from taking office.

When the United States Congress convened to certify the electoral votes of the presidential election, supporters of Trump crossed the Mall and stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to prevent the tabulation of votes and protest against Biden's win. Trump supporters illegally entered the Capitol and gathered on its eastern and western sides, including on the inaugural platform constructed for Biden's inauguration. Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died from the riots, while several improvised explosive devices were found on and near the Capitol grounds. Another Capitol police officer on duty during the riots died by suicide days later. During the riots, Trump was "initially pleased" by the attack on the Capitol and took no action. In a speech hours into the event, Trump told the rioters "We love you. You're very special," restated his false claims of electoral fraud, and then asked them to go home. Hours later, Congress reconvened and ultimately certified the electoral votes in the early morning hours of January 7. Trump then released a statement asserting that there would be an "orderly transition" of power on Inauguration Day, even while continuing to claim falsely that the election was stolen from him and also stating that he would not attend Biden's inauguration.