Donald Trump: Could he be the first president to be impeached TWICE?

US politicians are due to vote later today on whether to make Donald Trump the first ever president to be impeached twice.

It's after lots of criticism of his behaviour in trying to undermine the fairness of the recent election, which he lost, and his role in last week's violent protests at the US Capitol.

Mr Trump though has responded to the criticism by saying he had done nothing wrong when he made a speech to crowds before some of them attacked the Capitol.

"What I said was totally appropriate," Mr Trump said ahead of a trip to the US-Mexico border wall in Texas. "I want no violence."

Only two presidents other than Donald Trump have ever been impeached and it's a really big deal - but it happening to a president twice would be truly historic and could stop him trying to be president ever again.

Here's what's going on and why it's important.

What is impeachment?

Impeachment proceedings are usually a pretty rare event in the US and are a final check on the president's power. Only three US presidents have ever been impeached, and one of them is Donald Trump.

The United States Congress - the part of the US government that writes and brings in laws - can put the president on trial for a number of offences including "treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanours".

For a president to be removed, he or she needs to be impeached by half the politicians in the House of Representatives (currently controlled by Joe Biden's party) and then found guilty by two-thirds of those in the Senate (controlled by Donald Trump's party until 20 January).

But impeachment by the House of Representatives does not automatically mean that a president will be removed from the job and until now, no US president has been removed from office as a result of impeachment.

The storming of the Capitol building has put senior politicians on edge during the final days of Mr Trump's presidency

Donald Trump was impeached in 2020 over claims he abused his power to ask a foreign government to investigate the family of Joe Biden, but when it came to the Senate trial, he easily won the support of the politicians in his party and stayed in power.

If Mr Trump loses this time, he could be removed from his job and stopped from running for president again at the next election.

You can find out more about it here.

What is the president accused of?

Many of President Trump's supporters have continued to protest against the election result

Democrats have introduced an article of impeachment against Mr Trump for his role in last week's invasion of the Capitol.

The president is being accused of "incitement of insurrection" - this means encouraging a revolt against authority or an established government - and claims that Trump actively encouraged violence by protesters.

The case is all about Mr Trump's remarks at a rally outside the White House shortly before some of his supporters broke into the House of Representatives.

He called on them to "peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard", but also to "fight like hell" and to march on the Capitol.

What does Trump say?

In his first public appearance since last Wednesday's riot, Mr Trump showed no regret for what he said to the crowd before the attack on Congress.

"What I said was totally appropriate," Mr Trump said ahead of a trip to the US-Mexico border wall in Texas. "I want no violence."

He also told reporters: "This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you're doing it, and it's really a terrible thing that they're doing."

This isn't the first time President Trump has been impeached.

He managed to overcome a previous impeachment trial in January last year, when he was accused of asking Ukraine to dig up damaging secret information on his political rival, Democrat Joe Biden, who will now become the next US President.

Only two other presidents have been impeached but - like Donald Trump - both kept their jobs after their parties supported them in the trial that followed.

No-one has ever been impeached twice.