The regime's harsh statement illustrates the risk in putting so much stock into last month's ceremonial Singapore summit.

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell @ NBCNews.com, July 7

WASHINGTON — On Saturday, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo finished talks with North Korean officials in Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un's foreign ministry accused the Trump administration of a “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization." It was an immediate and sharp contradiction to President Donald Trump’s rosy descriptions of his North Korea diplomacy.

[....] This dissonance between fact and fancy was made clear earlier this week. After NBC News first reported that Pyongyang was in fact expanding elements of its weapons program, the president tweeted, “Many good conversations with North Korea — It is going well!” He added: “If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!”

On Thursday, as his secretary of state was flying to Pyongyang, the President again pointed to eight months without a missile or nuclear test by the North as proof of his success. But in fact, Pyongyang also suspended tests for a while under President Barack Obama, and promised to denuclearize. It did not keep that commitment.

All this puts even more pressure on Pompeo and his negotiating team [....]