Donald Trump thanked Kim Jong-un as he greeted three US citizens on their return from North Korea where they had been held captive.

The US president was pictured with Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim as they touched down at Joint Base Andrews near to Washington.

The trio gave peace signs to reporters and waved their hands after the Boeing C-40 carrying them arrived at 2.42am on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who secured the prisoners' release in Pyongyang the day before, was also greeted by Mr Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Expressing gratitude to Mr Kim, the president said: "We're starting off on a new footing. This is a wonderful thing that he released the folks early.

"That's a big thing - very important to me."

The return of the prisoners is widely seen as a goodwill gesture by Mr Kim ahead of his meeting with the US president.

Its date and location is yet to be confirmed, but Mr Trump has hinted that the details will be released soon.

Speaking at the airbase, Mr Trump said: "We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting.

"It was understood that we would be able to get these three terrific people during the meeting and get them home after the meeting.

"He was nice in letting them go before the meeting - frankly we didn't think this was going to happen.

"It was a very important thing to all of us."