Donald Trump: Article of impeachment delivered against former President

An article of impeachment has now officially been delivered against Donald Trump by leaders in the US House of Representatives - the half of the US Congress that creates and passes laws.

This is the first step in beginning his trial, which is due to take place in the Senate in two weeks.

The former President is charged with "incitement of insurrection" after a number of his supporters forced their way into the US Capitol building earlier this month.

The riots turned violent, with protesters clashing with the police. Five people died during the events and a number of police officers were also injured.

Members of the US House of Representatives arrive at the Capitol in Washington, to deliver the article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump

What is impeachment?

Impeachment proceedings are political, not criminal.

They are usually a pretty rare event in the US and are a final check on a president's power.

The United States Congress 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 impeached, he or she needs to be impeached by half the politicians in the House of Representatives and then found guilty by two-thirds of those in the Senate.

Donald Trump is now no longer President, but if he is convicted, senators could also vote to bar him from ever holding public office again, meaning he cannot run for re-election in 2024.

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

This isn't the first time President Trump has been impeached, in fact he is the first president in US history to be impeached twice.

Only three US presidents have ever been impeached, and one of them is Donald Trump.

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.

You can find out more about it here.

What is Trump charged with?

On 13 January US politicians voted to impeach Trump for a second time.

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

He urged his supporters in a speech on 6 January to "peacefully and patriotically" make their voices heard, but also to "fight like hell" against an election that he falsely told them had been stolen.

Following Mr Trump's comments, his supporters broke into the US Capitol building where five people died in the violent riot.

Trump has also received a lot of criticism of his behaviour in trying to undermine the fairness of the election, which he lost.

At the time, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a senior Democrat politician, said: "The president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country.

"He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love."

Most Republicans, who belong to the same party as Mr Trump, did not defend the president's speech. Instead, they argued that the impeachment process had been forced through too quickly and called on Democrats to drop it for the sake of national unity.

But, some Republican's party still supported him. Jim Jordan accused Democrats of dividing the country just to make a political point. "This is about getting the president of the United States. It's always been about getting the president, no matter what. It's an obsession."

Among members of the president's party who voted to impeach him was the third-ranking House Republican, Liz Cheney, the daughter of a former Vice-President - she said "there has never been a greater betrayal by a president".

What did Mr Trump say?

In a video released after the vote, Mr Trump called on his followers to remain peaceful, without mentioning his impeachment.

"Violence and vandalism have no place in our country... No true supporter of mine would ever endorse political violence," he said.

What happens next?

The impeachment process will now head to the Senate, which will hold a trial to decide out if the president is guilty of the charges or not.

A two-thirds majority - this means at least 67 people out of 100 in the Senate - is needed to convict Mr Trump.

If Mr Trump is convicted by the Senate, law makers could hold another vote to block him from running for elected office again.

It is set to start next month.