ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump once claimed he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “fell in love.” But the dictator he once called “Little Rocket Man” let him know on Friday that their “mysteriously wonderful” relationship might not be enough to strike a disarmament pact.

As recently as Wednesday, the U.S. commander in chief signaled he continues to believe the unlikely warm relationship with Kim could drive a deal under which Kim would give up his nuclear arms.

“[We] seem to have a very good relationship,” Trump told reporters when asked for an update on negotiations in the wake of a summit with Kim last month that collapsed over differences about removing sanctions before the North has proven it is dismantling its program and the definition of what would constitute “denuclearization.”

North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son-hui, told reporters in Pyongyang the same, saying Friday the two leaders’ relations are “still good, and the chemistry is mysteriously wonderful,” according to The Associated Press, which has a bureau in the North’s capital city.

But Choe blamed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House national security adviser John Bolton for fostering an “atmosphere of hostility and mistrust” in Hanoi, Vietnam, adding they were too fixed in their demands and “were too busy with pursuing their own political interests and had no sincere intention to achieve a result.”