WEST PALM BEACH (Florida) • US President Donald Trump last Saturday largely ignored the fact that he had become the third impeached president in history as he rallied young conservative activists with campaign-style attacks on the "far-left ruling class" at the start of a two-week vacation.
Speaking for more than an hour to thousands of high school and college students at the Turning Point USA conference, he referred briefly to his impeachment, accusing Democrats of pursuing an "illegal, unconstitutional hyper-partisan impeachment" against him.
But he did not dwell on the historic vote or spend much time attacking congressional Democrats, who charged him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress by pressuring a foreign government to help him in smearing a rival.
Instead, the President made it clear that he intended to seek re-election with the messages he has been delivering for years: a relentless attack on liberalism, promises of abortion restrictions and gun rights, denunciations of environmentalism, and a vow to secure the south-western border against what he calls "criminal aliens".
His speech to the young supporters came just three days after the House impeachment vote, which set the stage for a trial in the Senate to determine whether he will be removed from office.
The timing of that trial remains uncertain. Lawmakers left Washington for the holidays without resolving a dispute over the procedures that will govern the trial and whether the Republican-led Chamber will call witnesses the Democrats have demanded.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that Democrats would not deliver the two approved articles of impeachment to the Senate until they had agreed to fair procedures for the trial.
Mr Trump, in his remarks last Saturday, appeared determined to dismiss the impeachment inquiry as a failed political attack by his rivals.
"There is no crime. There is no nothing. How do you impeach when you have no crime?" he asked the crowd, referring briefly to Ms Pelosi as "crazy Nancy", insisting that she had no case against him.
"It is so unfair," he added.
He briefly focused on Mr Hunter Biden, the son of former vice-president Joe Biden, after an audience member yelled out "Where's Hunter?" It prompted Mr Trump to spend a few minutes denouncing - without evidence - the elder Mr Biden, his rival for the White House, for the very corruption that the Democrats accused him of during the impeachment inquiry.
But if Ms Pelosi and others believed last Wednesday's vote would incite a long diatribe about impeachment, they were wrong.
Mr Trump pointed to the country's economic success, noting that the stock market has hit record highs and unemployment among many groups is at long-term lows.
The rest of Saturday's speech was a return to his greatest hits: attacking the "fake news" media; warning of the dangers of immigration; complaining about unsubstantiated claims of spying on his presidential campaign; and mocking the use of windmills and the Democratic plan for a "green new deal" to protect the planet.
"They are noisy. They kill the birds," Mr Trump said of windmills. "You want to see a bird graveyard, go under a windmill someday. You will see more dead birds than you have ever seen in your life."
The crowd of young supporters - many decked out in red "Make America Great Again" hats - welcomed the President's messages.
They repeatedly jumped to their feet, at one point chanting, "Four more years".
Mr Trump joked that they should change the chant to drive his liberal adversaries crazy.
"From now on, start yelling 16 more years," he said.
NYTIMES
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