Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump emerged from the White House Wednesday afternoon and walked triumphantly toward television cameras to declare Robert Mueller's testimony on Capitol Hill delivered a "very good day" for him and Republicans. He also claimed that the fiery hearings ended with Democratic lawmakers getting "less than nothing" with which to pursue their investigations into him.

It was the remarkable cap to a day that saw the former special counsel, under oath, confirm the accuracy of instances of potential criminality by Trump detailed in his nearly 450-page report and once again reiterate that he had in no way exonerated the sitting President.

But for Trump, the optics of Democrats seemingly coming up empty in terms of new or damning information were all that mattered. His trumpeting of the moment he considered vindication came as a stark contrast to how he began the day.

Wednesday had begun with the President agitated at the prospect of Mueller's testimony, phoning allies and firing off a series of tweets attacking the former FBI director's credibility ahead of his testimony. But after watching Mueller's frequently halting, monosyllabic testimony come far short of Democrats' hopes for a made-for-TV moment that might catapult a case for impeachment, the President's demeanor shifted from irritation to triumph.

"It was a very big day for our country, it was a very big day for the Republican Party and you could say it was a great day for me," Trump said. "The Democrats had nothing and now they have less than nothing and I think they're going to lose the 2020 election very big, including congressional seats, because of the path they chose."

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