On the day when House Democrats voted to impeach the president of the United States for only the third time in American history, Trump insisted his White House was winning a political war and maintaining business as usual — even as his overwhelming frustration with the process boiled over on Twitter and in private conversations. It was a day that displayed marked differences between the image Trump projects to supporters and the seething he often does in private.

By evening, he had flown to the swing state of Michigan to a campaign rally where he sought to project a nonchalant attitude and spoke about the economy, the Space Force and a military F-35 plane as the House tallied its votes.

“It doesn't really feel like we are being impeached,” Trump told cheering supporters in Battle Creek at a winding rally that ran more than two hours. “We did nothing wrong. We have tremendous support in the Republican Party, like we've never had before.”

Trump even seemed touched when an aide carried a sign to the rally stage informing him of the vote tally and the fact that not a single Republican voted in favor of removing him from office. “The Republican party has never been so affronted but they have never been so united as they are right now,” Trump said.

Trump is taking impeachment incredibly personally, allies said, viewing it as a direct attack on him rather than the actions he took in office to request Ukraine investigate a political rival, Joe Biden, and delay military aid to Ukraine.

But in recent days, he also has taken solace in new polls that show his approval rating rising among independent voters during the impeachment proceedings. He’s been comforted by the unity of Republicans on Capitol Hill; not a single House Republican voted in favor of the two articles of impeachment Wednesday evening. Trump was late to take the stage at his own rally because he wanted to watch Republicans support him on the House floor, Vice President Mike Pence told the crowd.

“He doesn’t like the word ‘impeachment’ or the process, but strategically, this has worked out to his advantage,” said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a longtime friend and ally of the president. “I think he is quite happy to have the Democrats stay mired in this universe they have created for themselves.”

Although the White House press secretary assured reporters earlier Wednesday that Trump was busy working and only “between meetings” catching snippets of the action on the House floor, his Twitter feed belied that claim and showed a president obsessed with the historic nature of this day.

Through four dozen tweets and retweets, Trump did not shy away from weighing in on his favorite medium. “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!,” he tweeted around lunchtime Wednesday.

Apart from a routine intelligence briefing, Trump had nothing on his publicly released schedule until late afternoon, when he left the White House for the Michigan campaign rally.