Minutes after Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) gavelled the hearing to a close, President Trump's allies declared the hearings a "disaster" for Democrats.

"This entire spectacle has always been about the Democrats trying to undo the legitimate result of the 2016 election and today they again failed miserably," wrote Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also declared, "Today's hearings were a disaster for Democrats."

The president tweeted: "TRUTH IS A FORCE OF NATURE!"

Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters as he left Washington Wednesday afternoon for a fundraiser in West Virginia, said the hearing "proved a lot to everybody."

"There was no defense of what Robert Mueller was trying to defend," he said. "There was no defense to this ridiculous hoax, this witch hunt."

Mr. Trump, asked if he was concerned he could be indicted once he leaves office, criticized the reporter as "fake news." He criticized Mr. Mueller as "horrible" both in his testimony and his handling of the investigation.

While there's no question that Mr. Mueller's testimony lacked the drama or big reveals that Democrats had hoped for, he also affirmed several key points over the course of his six-plus hours on Capitol Hill.

He again declared his report hadn't exonerated Mr. Trump, he said of the president's praise of WikiLeaks "problematic is an understatement" and, asked if it was fair to say that Mr. Trump's written answers to his questions were "not only inadequate" but also untruthful, replied that was "generally" the case. The hearing also gave Democrats the opportunity to recount some of the most damning portions of the Mueller report to a massive TV audience.

The question now will be how long Mr. Mueller's testimony sticks as the major news in Washington—or whether the president will do something to turn the page. We expect to hear from him in the next hour when he leaves Washington for a fundraiser in West Virginia.