Exactly one week after an angry mob attacked Capitol Hill, Donald Trump made history by becoming the first president in US history to be impeached twice, after being accused of inciting the mob.

It was the first time in the 231- year-old history of United States that a president has been impeached twice in his term. For a president who likes to boast about his success of his presidency, it is an embarrassing ending to his term in office.

The House of Representatives accused him of inciting a riot and encouraging violence with his false claims of election fraud. The riot broke out at the US capitol after the spoke to a crowd of thousands of pro-Trump supporters near White House on Wednesday morning.

He will now face trial in the Senate, not before he leaves office next Wednesday, where the 100- member body will once again will sit as a jury and decide what will happen to him.

Senators can also vote to bar him from ever holding office again.

The outcome of that trial, which will not begin until after Joe Biden's inauguration, is very much in doubt.

 In a video realised after the vote, Mr. Trump told his followers to remain peaceful but he did not mention his impeachment.

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

The FBI has also warned of possible armed protests for Washington DC in the days before Joe Biden is inaugurated as the new US president.

What is impeachment?

Impeachment is when a sitting president is charged with crimes. 

Just over a year ago, the House of Representatives impeached Trump the first time without a single Republican vote. This time, however, 10 members of his own party broke ranks to support the impeachment and more condemned his words and actions on the day of the capitol riot.

For two hours on Wednesday, lawmakers made statements for and against the vote in the same chamber where they hid under chairs and donned gas masks as rioters tried to force their way inside last week.

Trump was impeached 232 votes to 197.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on the House floor: "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."

Democratic congressman Julian Castro called Mr Trump "the most dangerous man to ever occupy the Oval Office".

Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the chamber and the daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney, was the most notable defection.

"There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution," she wrote in a statement that was frequently quoted by Democrats during the impeachment debate. 

There is already word that in the Senate, certain Republicans are open to voting to convict the president of the charges. On Tuesday night, the New York Times reported that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was "pleased" that Trump was on the verge of being impeached and hoped that the process would allow a clean break with a president with the party.

He has since said he will reserve judgement until the trial is concluded - but such reports from the senator's usually tight-lipped office do not materialise out of thin air. Battle lines within the group are being drawn, including tentative ones.

But, most Republicans did not attempt to defend the rhetoric of Mr Trump, instead claiming that the impeachment had bypassed the customary hearings and calling on Democrats to abandon it for the sake of national unity.

The split in the House on Wednesday sets up a choice for Republicans in the days ahead. On one hand is continued allegiance to the president's brand of politics - one that created a new coalition of voters that delivered the White House and Congress in 2016, but lost both in 2020.

Impeachment charges are political, not criminal. The president was accused by the House of inciting the storming of the Capitol with a speech to supporters outside the White House. 

He urged them to "peacefully and patriotically" make their voices be heard but to "fight like hell" against an election which had been "stolen". 

His supporters broke into the Capitol following Mr Trump's comments, forcing lawmakers to suspend certification of the outcome of the election and take cover. The building was put on lockdown and five people were killed in the melee.

The impeachment article claimed that Mr. Trump "repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted".

It states that he then repeated these claims and "willfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol" leading to the violence and loss of life.

President Trump has seriously undermined the stability of the United States and its government institutions, has threatened the legitimacy of the democratic system, and has interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coequal branch of government."

The impeachment article will go to the Senate, which will hold a trial to determine the president's guilt. A two-thirds majority is need to convict the president, meaning at least 17 republicans will have to vote with the democrats in an evenly- split 100 seat chamber. 

But as many as 20 Senate Republicans are open to convicting the president, it is reported. 

If he is convicted, lawmakers could hold another vote to block him from running for the office again- which has planned to do in 2024. 

But the trial will not come during Trump's remaining week in office.