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President Trump's campaign has not plotted with Russia in the 2016 election, according to a summary of the report of special advocate Robert Mueller submitted to Congress on Sunday.
The summary of the report did not conclude whether Mr. Trump illegally obstructed justice – not exonerated the president.
The report was summarized for the Congress by Attorney General William Barr.
President Trump tweeted in response: "No collusion, no obstruction."
Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly described the investigation as a witch hunt, said Sunday that it "was shameful that the country was subject to this situation," describing the investigation as a "illegal operation that failed".
The report marks the culmination of two years of investigation by Mr. Mueller, in which some of the former senior aides of the president were prosecuted and, in some cases, jailed.
"Although this report does not conclude that the president has committed a crime, he does not exonerate him either," Mueller wrote in his report.
What does the summary of the report contain?
Mr Barr's summary letter outlines the findings of the investigation into Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Mr. Barr concluded: "The special council found no American personality or Trump campaigner knowingly conspiring or coordinating with Russia."
The second part of the letter deals with the issue of obstruction of justice. Mr. Barr's summary indicates that the report of the special council "finally decided not to pronounce a traditional judgment of the prosecution".
"The special counsel therefore did not reach any conclusion – one way or the other – as to whether the conduct being examined was an obstruction," the letter reads.
Mr. Barr stated that the evidence provided was not sufficient "to establish that the President had committed an offense of obstruction of justice".
Mr. Barr ends his letter to Congress stating that he will publish others of the full report, but that certain elements are subject to restrictions.
"Given these limitations, the timing of the report depends in part on the speed with which the department can identify the [grand jury] material that the law can not be made public, "he wrote.
"I asked the help of the special council to identify all the information in the report as quickly as possible."
How did American politicians react?
Congressman Jerry Nadler, Democratic Chair of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, stressed that the Attorney General had not ruled out that Mr. Trump may have obstructed justice.
"Barr says the president may have acted to obstruct the justice, but that for a conviction for obstruction," the government should prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acting with a corrupt intent will is engaged in obstructive behavior "."
Sen. Democrat Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that even though he lacked evidence to support "a criminal plot liable to prosecution", questions remained as to whether Mr. Trump had been compromised .
House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that Barr's letter "raised as many questions as it answered" and asked for Access to the full report.
"The fact that the president declares himself completely exonerated directly contradicts the words of Mr. Mueller and should not be taken with any degree of credibility," the statement said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders described the report's findings as "a total and complete exoneration of the president".
Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, said the report was "better than I expected". Republican Senator Mitt Romney praised the "good news", adding that it was now "time for the country to go forward".
What happens next?
The publication of the report's key findings on Sunday could mark the beginning of a long battle for the entire Mueller report to be made public.
A number of senior Democrats have called for the release of the full report as well as all the special council's investigation records.
Mr. Barr announced that he would publish more, but said that it would take some time to determine what materials could be shared.
It has not given precise timelines, but whenever additional details are reported to Congress, Democrats may present legal problems if they are inferior to the entire report.
While Congress is waiting for more details, Mr. Barr may be called to testify before the Judiciary Committee of the House.
Democratic commission chairman Jerry Nadler said on Twitter that he would ask Barr to testify "in the near future" on what Mr. Nadler described as "very worrying divergences and final decisions at Ministry of Justice".
Meanwhile, while Trump was demanding a "total exemption" on Sunday, a dozen other investigations were continuing to review his activities.
These include a federal investigation in New York that examines possible violations of the election law by the Trump campaign and its companies and possible misconduct on the part of Trump's inaugural committee.
The Congress is also pursuing its own investigations, mainly in the democratically controlled House of Representatives.
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