Interesting words: Impression vs. impersonation

The other day we (my wife, son and me) were discussing the difference between an impersonation of someone and an impression of someone. So, I decided to look it up.

According to Merriam Webster, the relevant definition of impression is:

an imitation or representation of salient features in an artistic or theatrical medium; especially : an imitation in caricature of a noted personality as a form of theatrical entertainment

while to impersonate is

to assume or act the character of

I think the key difference is how much you are trying to fool people (perhaps even yourself). When someone does an impression of some famous person, no one is really fooled. When Alec Baldwin does Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, no one thinks it's really Trump. If someone tried to impersonate Trump, they would be trying to get people to believe they really were him.