So we now know what Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign slogan will be: “No collusion, No obstruction.” We know, too, that Robert Mueller’s report will likely act as a huge boost to the president’s chance of being re-elected 18 months from now.

Mueller did not say definitively that Trump did not collude with Russia to influence the 2016 election, or that he did not try to interfere with investigations into such accusations. He said, rather, that he found no evidence that Trump colluded with Russia. He also said while he set out the case for and against the accusation of obstruction of justice in regards to several incidents, he “determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgement”. It was attorney general Bill Barr and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, who decided the president’s actions did not constitute a crime.

None of this fine print matters. What matters is that Donald Trump and his supporters will now be able to say with honesty and sincerity that an almost-two-year investigation, led by a dogged and respected prosecutor, found no evidence the president colluded with the Kremlin. They will use it as part of their messaging, and they will absorb it personally and take heart from it.

“The most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard – there was no collusion with Russia,” Trump told reporters on Sunday afternoon, trying to look stern, rather than gleeful, as news of Mueller’s main conclusions was released.

“There was no obstruction, and none whatsoever. And it was a complete and total exoneration. It’s a shame that our country had to go through this. To be honest it’s a shame that your president has had to go through this.”

Mueller investigation: The key figures Show all 12 1 /12 Mueller investigation: The key figures Mueller investigation: The key figures Robert Mueller is the special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, and potential obstruction of justice by the president. Mr Mueller has a pristine reputation in Washington, where he was previously in charge of the FBI. Throughout his investigation, he and his team have been notoriously tight lipped about what they know and where their investigation has led. REUTERS Mueller investigation: The key figures Former FBI director James Comey was the catalyst that led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller. Mr Comey was fired by the president after Mr Trump reportedly asked him to drop his own Russia investigation. Mr Trump has long maintained that the investigation is a "witch hunt". AFP/Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein had authority over the special counsel investigation for much of the two years it has been active. Mr Rosenstein found himself with that responsibility after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions recused himself from that oversight. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney general Jeff Sessions's decision to recuse himself from oversight of the special counsel investigation may have cost him his job in the end. Mr Sessions resigned last year, after weathering a contentious relationship with Donald Trump who vocally criticised his attorney general for taking a step back. Mr Sessions recused himself from the oversight citing longstanding Justice Department rules to not be involved in investigations overseeing campaigns that officials were apart of. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Attorney General William Barr is currently responsible for oversight of the special counsel investigation. Mr Barr's office will be the first to receive the Mueller report when it is finished. His office will then determine what portion or version of that report should be delivered to Congress, and also made public. EPA Mueller investigation: The key figures Michal Cohn is the president's former personal lawyer, who has been helping the special counsel investigation as a part of a plea deal over financial crimes, and campaign finance crimes, he has pleaded guilty to. Among those crimes, Cohen admitted to facilitating $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did so at the direction of Mr Trump. Cohen has also admitted that he maintained contacts with Russian officials about a potential Trump real estate project in Moscow for months longer than Mr Trump and others admitted. The talks continued well into 2016 during the campaign, he has said. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Stormy Daniels has alleged that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, soon after Melania Trump gave birth to Baron Trump. The accusation is of particular importance as a result of the $130,000 hush money payment she received to keep quiet about the affair during the 2016 campaign. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Paul Manafort was Donald Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged alongside Rick Gates for a slew of financial crimes, and was convicted on several counts in a Virginia court. He then pleaded guilty to separate charges filed in a Washington court. Manafort has been sentenced to just 7.5 years in prison for his crimes — in spite of recommendations from the special counsel's office for a much harsher sentence. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures George Papadopoulos was one of the first individuals associated with the Trump campaign to be charged by the Mueller probe. He ultimately received a 14 day prison sentence for lying to investigators about contacts he had with Russian officials. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Roger Stone is a well known political fixer and operative, who has made a name for himself for some dirty tactics. He has been charged by the Mueller probe earlier this year, and he has been said to have had prior knowledge that WikiLeaks planned on publishing stolen emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016. Getty Images Mueller investigation: The key figures Rick Gates was charged alongside former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for a range of crimes. Gates, who worked alongside Manafort for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. The two were charged with conspiracy and financial crimes. Gates pleaded guilty. AP Mueller investigation: The key figures Former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first casualties of the Russia scandal, and was forced out of his position in the White House weeks after Donald Trump took office. Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to "willfully" making fraudulent statements about contacts he had with Russian officials including former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Flynn then lied to Vice President Mike Pence about that contact. REUTERS

It is not just Trump’s supporters who are going to have to think about the significance of Mueller’s report. Many Democrats saw in the former director of the FBI a means of revenge for their party’s surprising and painful defeat with a candidate they all believed was far better qualified.

Being told that Russia was working to interfere in the election on Trump’s behalf was some sort of salve.

But if it could be also shown that Trump had actively colluded with the Kremlin, if his strange bromance with Vladimir Putin could be explained, if it could be shown the Russians had kompromat – ideally something financial or sordid – on Trump, they could write him off as a crook and let matters take their course.

Now, they cannot do that.

It’s true that Democrats will continue their own congressional investigations into the president and his officials. Congressman Jerry Nadler, Democratic chair of the House of Representatives’ judiciary committee, said on Sunday his panel would call Barr to testify shortly, citing concerns over the attorney general’s conclusions from special counsel’s report.

But Democrats must proceed with great caution. If, in the light of Mueller’s conclusions, they act with the same gung-ho language and attitude some have been displaying, they risk the danger of a backlash of public opinion. They risk Trump and his supporters saying they’re trying to frame a man who has just been cleared.

In realty, Mueller’s report has removed any prospect of the president now being impeached.

For the Democrats to proceed with such a move would be seen as nothing less than partisan. That means they must focus their efforts on removing Trump from office by electoral means.

Mueller’s conclusions may be the most significant political event for the country since Trump’s victory in November 2016. His findings do not make Donald Trump a more attractive man. They do not make his racist language any more acceptable, his policies less toxic. He will not be a more effective administrator or any less of a narcissist. The country will not be any less divided.

What Mueller’s work has done, however, is remove from around Trump’s neck the accusation that he was a traitor who had betrayed his country – no less, to the old Cold War enemy of Moscow.