Michael D'Antonio is author of the book, "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success" (St. Martin's Press). The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) Hellbent on besting Barack Obama at everything, Donald Trump began talking about his potential Nobel Peace Prize long before the date set for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He heaped praise on the most repressive leader in the world -- "very honorable" were the words he used -- and the White House Military Office even issued a commemorative medal for the upcoming summit which, bizarrely, called Kim "Supreme Leader."

But Thursday, with a letter to Kim that is true to the cartoon nature of his personality, Trump cites "the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement" and canceled the peace talks in a fit of childish pique. This came after Vice President Mike Pence's threat that the North Korean government could be toppled as Libya's was if Kim didn't come to heel -- a threat that prompted a North Korean official to call Pence a " political dummy ."

Rarely has a President shown himself to be more clueless than Trump in his handling of the Korean crisis. With his schoolboy taunts about "rocket man" and wild swings between threats and loving praise, Trump has acted true to form. To understand this one need only consider his previous record of negotiating in business.

As a New York real estate promoter, Trump habitually made outlandish statements and proposed projects he could never deliver. In one case he was going to build the tallest building in America on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In another he insisted the big convention center named after longtime Sen. Jacob Javits of New York be named after his father, Fred Trump. Neither folly came to pass.

In politics, Trump's early endeavors were marked by similar bluster. He feuded with Mayor Ed Koch and criticized every president who occupied the White House from 1976 forward. As a young man, he talked openly of the amounts required to purchase the loyalties of lawmakers and even New York Gov. Hugh Carey. And in my interviews with him in 2014, he disparaged politicians as almost as dishonest as the press.

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