House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two articles, focusing on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, were announced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler.

The charges, if approved by the House of Representatives in a vote expected next week, would make Trump only the third U.S. president to be impeached and placed on trial in the Senate.

"Our president holds the ultimate public trust. When he betrays that trust and puts himself before country, he endangers the constitution, he endangers our democracy, and he endangers our national security," said Nadler.

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The decision was believed to be made after the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee held a nine-hour hearing during which Nadler said there was extensive proof of Trump's wrongdoing.

"The facts are clear. The danger to our democracy is clear, and our duty is clear," Nadler said in his closing statement at the last scheduled House impeachment hearing.

Trump "constitutes a continuing threat to the integrity of our elections and to our democratic system of government," Nadler added. "Such conduct is clearly impeachable. This committee will proceed accordingly."

Trump has denied accusations he withheld U.S. aid from Ukraine for his personal political benefit.

In a series of tweets that followed, the president again slammed the impeachment process as a "witch hunt." 

In response to House Democrats' announcement, White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham called the articles of impeachment "baseless and partisan attempt to undermine a sitting President." 

"The evidence of the president's misconduct is overwhelming and uncontested," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Tuesday. 

"The president's continuing abuse of power has left us no choice," said Schiff. 

The House Judiciary Committee released a report on Saturday explaining the constitutional grounds for the impeachment, accusing Trump of abusing his office by pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into launching investigations that could benefit Trump politically during the 2020 U.S. elections. 

Trump claimed "nothing came out" of his July phone conversation with Zelensky, an episode standing at the center of the impeachment proceeding initiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in late September. The White House has not participated in the impeachment proceeding, accusing Democrats of an unfair process. 

According to the nation's constitution, the House shall have the sole power of impeachment while the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 

However, conviction can only happen in the Senate and requires at least two-thirds of its members, or 67 senators, to vote in favor after a trial. Currently, the Senate has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents. 

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)