Donald Trump joked about his own impeachment in front of a college football team as the Senate prepares for his impeachment trial, the third in US history.

The president revelled in his celebrity during a reception for LSU at the White House recognising the team's win against the Clemson Tigers in Monday's national college championship game.

He invited the team to the Oval Office to visit the Resolute Desk, where "a lot of presidents, some good, some not so good" have worked, he said.​

"But you've got a good one now", Mr Trump said. "Even though they're trying to impeach the son of a b****."

He then turned his attention to 23-year-old LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy recipient Joe Burrow, saying: "Can you believe that? We got the greatest economy we ever had, Joe. We got the greatest military. We rebuilt it. We took out those terrorists like your football team would've taken out those terrorists, right?"

All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Show all 6 1 /6 All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Alan Dershowitz Dershowitz is a controversial American lawyer best known for the high-profile clients he has successfully defended. Those clients have included OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. One longtime Harvard Law associated told the New Yorker Dershowitz "revels in taking positions that ultimately are not just controversial but pretty close to indefensible." Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Ken Starr Starr became a household name in the 1990s as the independent counsel who led the investigation that led to Bill Clinton's impeachment. That investigation began as a look into a real estate scandal known as Whitewater, and eventually led to impeachment after Mr Clinton lied under oath about having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. AP All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Jay Sekulow Sekulow is the president's longtime personal attorney, and, now, personal lawyer in the White House. He has been accused by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas of being "in the loop" during the Ukraine scandal. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pam Bondi Bondi is the former attorney general in Florida, and a longtime backer of the president's. She made a name for herself in Florida for taking hyper partisan stances on issues, and her penchant for publicity. She is likely to be a prominent public-facing figure during the trial. AFP/Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Pat Cipollone Cipollone is the White House counsel, and leading the president's defence team. Getty All the president's lawyers: The team fighting Trump's impeachment Rudy Giuliani While not officially named as one of the president's impeachment lawyers, it is hard to ignore Giuliani's outsized role in this process. The former mayor of New York has been making headlines for months as he defends his client, and for his apparent role in the effort to compel Ukraine to launch the investigation into Joe Biden. We'll see how he figures in the actual trial, which he has said he would like to be a part of. Reuters

The president was impeached by the House on 18 December. The Senate trial will begin 21 January. The president is charged with abuse of power for pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation into his political rivals in an effort to use potentially damaging information against his political rivals in the 2020 election.

He also is charged with obstructing the congressional investigation into his administration's dealings with Ukraine by repeatedly refusing to provide relevant documents or allow members of his administration to testify.

Members of the LSU Tigers look on as Donald Trump makes jokes at a reception for them in the East Room of the White House to reward their victory in the college football playoff final (Getty Images)

New members of his legal team announced on Friday include Ken Starr, who he previously has called a "lunatic" and a "freak" during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, as well as Alan Dershowitz, who has represented Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.

During the White House reception, Mr Trump told Mr Burrow that he's "going to be so rich".

The quarterback presented Mr Trump with a No. 45 LSU jersey with "Trump" on the back.