Democratic senators are worried Donald Trump will be emboldened if he survives the upcoming impeachment trial and will use an acquittal as momentum for his 2020 re-election campaign.

Sixty-seven votes are needed to convict and remove the president from office but that result seems unlikely in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Mr Trump’s party holds a 53-47 majority.

A number of senior Republicans have already signalled they intend to prevent Mr Trump’s conviction, with Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, pledging to work in coordination with the White House throughout the trial.

“We all know the president,” senator Dick Durbin, the Democratic Senate minority whip, told The Hill.

“If there are not 67 votes to convict in the Senate, he’ll claim that it was a witch hunt and that he was exonerated.”

Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump styles his 'You're fired!' pose in his Trump Tower office in June 2012. At the time he was known as a reality TV star on The Apprentice Diane Bondareff/Invision/AP Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He was also well known as the patron of the Miss Universe competition Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Early signs of Trump's ambition for the presidency can be found everywhere. Not least in his 2011 book 'Time to get tough: Making America #1 again' Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump with Piers Morgan in November 2010. Piers Morgan has long held that he and Trump are good friends Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump appeared on Fox & Friends, his favourite show, in August 2011 Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump considered running in the 2012 election, where he would have faced Barack Obama. He is speaking here at an event for a Republican women's group Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump was subject to a Comedy Central roast in 2011. He is pictured here being roasted by rapper Snoop Dogg Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Given that this Trump store is in the lobby of Trump Tower, it can be said that Trump sells merchandise of himself out of his own home Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump held meetings with prominent Republicans when considering his 2012 bid. He is pictured here with Alaska governor Sarah Palin Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He didn't end up running in 2012 afterall, instead endorsing Republican candidate Mitt Romney AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump's golf course in Aberdeen proved controversial in 2012 when he began lobbying the Scottish government against wind power in order that they wouldn't install turbines off the shore by his new course Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He even gave evidence to a Scottish parliamentary committee discouraging wind energy AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves He still found time for a round of course AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves On 16 June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election as a Republican Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves His campaign was divisive, courting controversy wherever he went. Ultimately he was declared the Republican candidate in June 2016 Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump took part in the TV debate against opponent Hillary Clinton on 9 October Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump and wife Melania vote in the presidential election on 8 November 2016 AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Hillary Clinton conceded defeat at 2:50am on 9 November and president-elect Trump swiftly delivered his victory speech to a crowd of supporters Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves News coverage around the world focused on the huge political upset that Trump's victory spelled AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump met with president Obama to discusss transition planning on 10 November. AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Donald Trump and Nigel Farage pose in the golden elevator at Trump Tower on 12 November 2016. Farage was the first British politician to meet with Trump after the election LeaveEUOffical/Twitter Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves The inauguration of Donald Trump took place on 20 January 2017. Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer boasted that the crowd was the 'largest ever' to witness an inauguration, a claim that was proved not to be true Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves In his first 100 days as leader, Trump signed 24 executve orders, the most of any president AFP/Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves One of Trump's most memorable election pledges was to build a wall between the US and Mexico. He is standing here in front of a prototype for a section of the wall Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump's meetings with other world leaders have provided no short supply of photo opportunities Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Trump was welcomed to the UK by the Queen and a state banquet was held at Buckingham Palace in his honour Reuters Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves Not everyone welcomed the president. Mass protests were held in London throughout his visits in both 2018 and 2019 EPA Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves One of the most significant meetings Trump has held with another leader was with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. In June 2019, Trump became the first sitting president to set foot in North Korea Getty Donald Trump celebrity president: A decade in two halves 2020 will see president Trump fight for a second term in office, who knows what the next decade will bring? Getty

Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator for Connecticut, raised similar concerns to the newspaper.

“No matter what we do, the president is going to say he did nothing wrong,” he said.

Mr Trump became the third US president to be impeached in December when the House passed two articles – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress – over his dealings with Ukraine and his response to an investigation into his conduct.

The votes fell largely along party lines, with all but three Democrats voting for both articles and every Republican voting against them, and senators fear a similarly divided result in the upcoming trial.

On Sunday, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen suggested Mr McConnell was attempting to “rig” the trial by working closely with the president.

“We keep hearing President Trump saying he's going to be exonerated. Look, if you have a rigged trial there's no exoneration in acquittal,” Mr Van Hollen told ABC’s This Week, suggesting that Democrats would not accept an acquittal based on a short, partisan trial.

Mr McConnell and senior Democrats have been locked in a stand-off over the rules of the proceedings, with disagreements over the length of the trial and plans to call more witnesses.

Democrats have sought to call additional witnesses to testify, such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, and requested Ukraine-related documents that could be used as evidence.

However, senior Republicans have signalled they would prefer a quick trial which may not include any new witnesses.

One plan suggested by Republican senators would see representatives from Congress present the case against Mr Trump and the White House defence team present its defence before moving straight to a vote on the articles.

Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat for Delaware, recently told NBC’s Meet the Press he was “gravely concerned” about what Mr Trump would do between the end of the Senate trial and the 2020 election if he is acquitted.

“If he is ultimately exonerated in the Senate, if the Senate Republican majority refuses to discipline him through impeachment, he will be unbounded,” Mr Coons warned.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, has also said Mr Trump could be “further emboldened” by a trial which avoids serious scrutiny and warned against allowing the president to avoid “any serious trial by withholding facts, withholding witnesses, [and] withholding documents.”

If Mr Schumer and Mr McConnell cannot come to a bipartisan agreement on the trial rules, the proceedings could be decided by a simple majority of 51 senators with a procedural motion.

Democrats fear Mr McConnell could use this tactic to force through his own rules with votes from Republicans.

Nevertheless, although Mr Trump is expected to be acquitted, some senators hope the trial will produce enough evidence to convince voters that he is unfit to be the president.

“I think the evidence speaks for itself,” Mr Durbin told The Hill.