President Trump Welcome the Three American Returnees

Donald Trump welcomed three Americans imprisoned in North Korea back to the U.S. in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and said words most observers thought no American president would ever utter: 'We want to thank Kim Jong Un.'

The president and his wife Melania arrived at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington at 2:00 a.m. to greet Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, and called them 'incredible people.'

In extraordinary scenes, Trump and the first lady clapped and cheered as the men walked down the steps with their arms in the air and giving triumphant 'V' signs signifying both peace and victory.

Their first steps back on American soil came hours earlier, in Alaska, when the plane carrying them home stopped to refuel.

On the tarmac in suburban Maryland, Trump said: 'These are great people. Frankly, we didn't think this was going to happen, but it did. It was important to get these people out. This is a special night for these three really great people.'

Trump also thanked Kim Jong-un for freeing 'the folks early.' calling it 'a wonderful thing' and adding he believes the North Korean despot 'really wants to do something' and bring the hermit kingdom 'into the real world.'

He said: 'We're starting off on a new footing. I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful, and if anybody would've said that five years ago, 10 years ago, even a year ago, you would've said, 'That's not possible.'

'My proudest achievement will be when we denuclearize that entire [Korean] peninsula,' he added.