Other complications prevented the talks from making it far enough to even discuss those issues. As the two leaders circled each other over what long-range goals they would agree to in Singapore, it became increasingly clear there were forces at work in both capitals that had a strong interest in failure.

The creators of North Korea’s nuclear and missile forces are the country’s true elite, celebrated as the heroes who keep America at bay. To lose their arsenal is to lose their status and influence.

When Mr. Trump sent one of his deputy national security advisers to Singapore a week ago for a prearranged meeting to work out meeting logistics, the North Koreans stood him up. In the past week, they did not answer the phone, a senior administration official told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

The North has its own list of complaints. After Mr. Trump accepted Mr. Kim’s offer to meet face-to-face, he replaced his national security adviser with John R. Bolton, who just a few months ago published an essay titled “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First,” an ode to pre-empting Pyongyang — no matter what it promised about the future.

Once he ensconced himself in the West Wing, Mr. Bolton began talking publicly about the “Libyan model” of turning over nuclear weapons, a reference to a deal he helped design in 2003 in which Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi turned over a nascent nuclear program in return for exactly the kinds of economic lures Mr. Trump was talking about.

To the North Koreans, Mr. Bolton knew, the Libya example was shorthand for making a bad decision to unilaterally disarm. They have little doubt that if North Korean citizens rose to overthrow their government — as Libyan rebels did against Colonel Qaddafi in 2011 — Washington would be more than happy to help chase down the leadership.

None of this means the initiatives with North Korea are entirely dead. Mr. Trump carefully left open the door for Mr. Kim to “call me or write” if he decides to cease the threats of nuclear exchanges and wants to reschedule the summit meeting.