Trump: Pompeo on His Way Back from North Korea with 3 Released Prisoners
Three American prisoners in North Korea were reportedly released and heading home on Wednesday as leaders of the two nations prepare to meet for a potentially monumental peace summit.
The news came in a pair of tweets by President Donald Trump, who announced the prisoner release was negotiated by newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Pyongyang this week.
I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
Trump wrote in his first tweet that “Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting.”
He said the men “seem to be in good health,” a stark contrast to the condition of Otto Warmbier, another American prisoner released from North Korea last year who arrived in the U.S. in a vegetative state and died a few days later.
The president said he would be on hand to welcome the three men back to American soil.
“Secretary Pompeo and his ‘guests’ will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning,” he wrote. “I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!”
Secretary Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018
Though the latest visit was Pompeo’s first as secretary of state, he made another trip to North Korea about a month earlier.
Trump also confirmed that international visit in a tweet, writing that his nominee to head the State Department had met in person with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Mike Pompeo met with Kim Jong Un in North Korea last week. Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed. Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018
He wrote at the time that the meeting “went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed.”
Though analysts predicted the release of Kim Hak-Song, Kim Dong-Chul and Kim Sang-Duk as a sign of goodwill prior to talks between the two leaders, Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani received backlash in recent days for apparently jumping the gun with an announcement.
Nearly a week before their release was announced, the former New York mayor appeared on the Fox News Channel for an interview in which he said the prisoner release was imminent.
“We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners today,” Giuliani said at the time.
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