US President Donald Trump set a presidential record for activity on his favourite social media platform on Wednesday, tweeting and retweeting at length about the Senate impeachment trial, the Democrats who want to replace him and much, much more.

By 4:25pm (21:25 GMT) in Washington, DC, Trump had barrelled through his previous record of 123 Twitter postings in a day that he set a little over a month ago, according to Factba.se, a service that compiles and analyses data on Trump's presidency.

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Trump's previous record for tweets on a single day during his time in the White House was set on December 12, 2019, the day the House Judiciary Committee opened its marathon session to approve two articles of impeachment against the president.

Trump set his all-time record for tweets in a day before he became president, with 161 posts in January 2015, according to Factba.se. Most of his tweeting that day was dedicated to plugging his reality television show.

And, for your information, we have a record as of 4:25 pm on @realDonaldTrump. The most tweets of his presidency at 125 and counting. The most retweets ever at 110 and counting. Closing on the all time record set in 2015... pic.twitter.com/V9hLmN2lEu — Factba.se (@FactbaseFeed) January 22, 2020

Trump, who began his day in Davos, Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum, started his Wednesday morning by hammering out 41 tweets between 12am and 1am (17:00 and 18:00 GMT) in Washington, DC (6am to 7am in Davos).

The vast majority of his postings to his more than 71 million followers were retweets of messages, videos and images from Republican legislators and other backers haranguing Democrats over the impeachment trial.

His barrage of tweets included plenty of incendiary posts excoriating Representative Adam Schiff, one of the House Democratic impeachment managers, and a retweet of a provocative image posted by White House social media director Dan Scavino that shows Trump walking in front of a fiery scene meant to symbolise the incineration of the "Deep State".

Factba.se said the record-breaking tweet was a retweet of Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who announced a new podcast about the impeachment trial.

Opening arguments

Democrats kicked off their first of three days of opening arguments on Wednesday, attempting to appeal to sceptical Republican senators.

Schiff outlined what the Democrats contend was the president's "corrupt scheme" to abuse his presidential power and then obstruct Congress' investigation. He then called on senators not to be "cynical" about politics, but to draw on the intent of the nation's Founding Fathers who provided the remedy of impeachment.

"Over the coming days, we will present to you - and to the American people - the extensive evidence collected during the House's impeachment inquiry into the president's abuse of power," said Schiff standing before the Senate. "You will hear their testimony at the same time as the American people. That is, if you will allow it."

Most senators sat at their desks throughout, as the rules stipulate, though some stretched their legs, standing behind the desks or against the back wall of the chamber, passing the time. Visitors watched from the galleries, one briefly interrupting in protest.

Trump's lawyers sat by, waiting their turn, as the president blasted the proceedings from afar, threatening jokingly to face-off with the Democrats by coming to "sit right in the front row and stare at their corrupt faces".

The House impeached Trump on December 18 for abuse of power related to his dealings with Ukraine and obstruction of Congress for refusing to participate in the impeachment investigation.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing.