What is important is not to look like surrendering everything and getting nothing in return. By that logic, Trump’s cancellation immediately after Kim’s threat of nuclear war seems appropriate. It is also important to ignore partisan and sophomoric analysis in news and media ascribing a win-lose scenario in what is essentially a complex multivariate situation.

Put simply, if one thinks this was good or terrible for the United States, reflect on his or her worldview rather than the situation. It is a good day to remember that the liberal President Moon of South Korea is possibly feeling suicidal now, just as the conservative prime minister of Japan is feeling elated. If one views national security from a narrow conservative and realist prism, Kim just got Trumped, “bigly.”

It defies logic that Kim would, under any circumstances, be willing to give up his nuclear weapons, the ultimate guarantor of his life and rule in his small personal fiefdom. Nor should true-blue conservatives and foreign policy realists expect that to happen, regardless of any guarantee from Kim’s side.