FOREIGN POLICY/NORTH KOREA/PRISONERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Just maybe, the extraordinary scene that unfolded in the dead of night on an airfield outside Washington early Thursday [5-10-18] is the start of something truly historic. President Donald Trump welcomed home three American prisoners from North Korea, citing their release as proof that his diplomacy with the isolated state is delivering. In what must have been a surreal experience, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk — who were only released from custody on Wednesday [5-9-18]– were suddenly plunged into a media circus…By securing the prisoners’ release the Trump administration could claim a genuine foreign policy victory that further built confidence ahead of his looming historic planned summit with Kim Jong Un. Other groups of US prisoners have been freed from North Korea over the years — often after visits by luminaries like former President Bill Clinton. But the accelerating diplomacy means this time there is the prospect that a more permanent opening could be possible after seven decades of hostility.”
-Stephen Collinson, “History in the making as Trump welcomes prisoners home,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 10, 2018 11:11 am