The first impeachment of Donald Trump refers to the proceedings initiated by the United States House of Representatives in September 2019, resulting in Trump becoming the third U.S. president to be impeached. The House approved two articles of impeachment on 18 December 2019: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate acquitted Trump on both articles on 5 February 2020. The impeachment centered on a July 2019 telephone call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during which Trump allegedly conditioned U.S. military aid and a White House meeting on Ukraine publicly announcing investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, as well as into a disputed theory alleging Ukrainian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In August 2019, a CIA officer filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Trump had improperly solicited foreign interference in the 2020 election during the Zelensky call. Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire initially withheld the complaint from Congress; after legal pressure, it was transmitted to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees in late September 2019. A reconstructed transcript of the call, released by the White House on 25 September 2019, became the primary documentary record for the proceedings. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry the same day. The House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Representative Adam Schiff, conducted depositions and public hearings through October and November 2019. The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Representative Jerrold Nadler, drafted and approved the articles of impeachment in December 2019.

Article I - Abuse of Power alleged that Trump solicited the Ukrainian government to publicly announce investigations that would benefit him politically, and that he conditioned official acts - specifically the release of congressionally appropriated military aid and a White House meeting - on Ukraine's compliance. Article II - Obstruction of Congress alleged that Trump directed executive branch officials to defy subpoenas for documents and testimony issued by House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry. The House voted 230-197 on Article I and 229-198 on Article II, largely along party lines. Three Democrats voted against the first article; four voted against the second. One Republican, Justin Amash - who had left the party to sit as an independent - voted for both articles.

The Senate trial began 16 January 2020, with Chief Justice John Roberts presiding. House managers, led by Representative Adam Schiff, presented the case for conviction. Trump's defense team included White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and personal attorney Jay Sekulow. A central dispute arose over whether the Senate would call additional witnesses, particularly former National Security Advisor John Bolton, whose forthcoming memoir was reported to corroborate key elements of the impeachment case. The Senate voted 51-49 against calling witnesses, with all Democrats and Republican Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins voting in favor. In January 2020, the Government Accountability Office found that the administration's hold on Ukraine aid had violated the Impoundment Control Act, a finding cited by impeachment supporters during the trial period. On 5 February 2020, the Senate voted 52-48 to acquit on the abuse of power article and 53-47 on the obstruction of Congress article. Romney became the first U.S. senator to vote to convict a president of his own party, finding Trump guilty on the abuse of power charge.

The proceedings generated substantial disagreement on legal, constitutional, and factual grounds. Supporters of impeachment argued that soliciting foreign interference in a domestic election constitutes a paradigmatic abuse of presidential power and that withholding appropriated funds for personal political benefit is an impeachable offense. Critics argued that no explicit quid pro quo was established, that the aid was ultimately released, that the proceedings were rushed and procedurally irregular, and that the articles did not allege statutory crimes. Constitutional scholars disagreed over whether impeachable “high crimes and misdemeanors” require statutory violations. Critics of the Senate trial argued that the exclusion of witnesses and documents prevented a full factual record from being established; defenders of the Senate's approach argued that the House had adequate time and resources to develop its evidentiary record before transmitting the articles. For a fuller treatment of interpretive disputes, see Trump First Impeachment - Debate.

• Impeachment Was Justified - Trump's conduct constituted a clear abuse of power warranting removal; conditioning military aid to an ally on personally beneficial political announcements violated the constitutional order and the separation of powers.
• Impeachment Was Unjustified - The proceedings were a partisan exercise lacking an established statutory crime, a clear quid pro quo, or adequate due process protections for the accused; acquittal was the appropriate outcome.
• Procedural Critique - Whatever the merits of the underlying allegations, the House conducted an irregular inquiry that denied the accused adequate participation rights, and the Senate's exclusion of witnesses undermined the trial's legitimacy as a fact-finding proceeding.
• Senate Trial Was Inadequate - The Senate's refusal to call witnesses or compel documents, particularly Bolton's testimony, rendered the acquittal verdict procedurally insufficient and left material factual questions unresolved.

• Trump First Impeachment - History
• Trump First Impeachment - Debate
• Trump Second Impeachment
• Ukraine - United States Relations
• Presidential Impeachment - United States
• United States of America - History

1. U.S. House of Representatives, Articles of Impeachment Against Donald John Trump, H.Res. 755, 116th Congress (18 December 2019).
2. U.S. Senate, Impeachment Trial of President Donald J. Trump, Roll Call Votes, 5 February 2020.
3. The White House, Memorandum of Telephone Conversation: Telephone Call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, 25 September 2019.
4. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Whistleblower Complaint, transmitted to Congress 26 September 2019.
5. U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, The Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report, 116th Congress (3 December 2019).
6. Pelosi, Nancy, statement announcing impeachment inquiry, 24 September 2019.
7. U.S. Senate, vote on motion to consider witnesses, 31 January 2020 (51-49 against).
8. Romney, Mitt, floor statement, U.S. Senate, 5 February 2020.
9. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Decision on the Office of Management and Budget's Hold on Ukraine Security Assistance, B-331564 (16 January 2020).