Yeah, poor Kim - making that long trip home, knowing his "friend" absolved him of responsibility for Otto Warmbier.
Three weeks ago, Trump was publicly disputing his intelligence community's assessment of North Korean capabilities. That's a ridiculous way to head off to an international summit. A little bit of homework, and a phone call or two, would have established basic parameters before the trip. He's an ignorant amateur, who thinks personalities will carry the day.
The "theatre" is actually the substance. But that's been true for potus's before Trump. Trump elevated it for his reality tv base. And NK is no longer an issue for the US and China.
For POTUS's before Trump, they wouldn't have made the trip, unless their delegates had already achieved a lesser agreement for signing - having arrived at positions through as thorough an understanding of the situation as possible. Trump telegraphed his ignorance before the trip. The theater isn't the substance. Foreign policy isn't talk radio - policies and principles matter more than personalities.
I dunno. Our policy cannot be NK has to denuclearize before we do shit. It's unrealistic and accomplishes nothing. It goes back to Clinton actually comtemplating starting a war.
The theatre is just his travelling reality show for the Trumpbots. "Trump has big win in strongly walking away, but Kim still friend." Trump is all about personalities ... or foils to his tv character.
What Trump's done is tell Kim he can have nukes and we can have peace. That's actually an improvement over what we've had since the late 1990's. NK is now not any impediment for a trade deal with Jina. Although I expect Trump to cave on intellectual property. And NK is an extremely dangerous place for civilians, or really anyone, to go. Michael Palin hosted a pretty cool show on the country.
It may be on Netflix now
Monty Python’s Michael Palin On How He Made A Film In North Korea