In cancelling his June 12 summit meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Thursay, President Donald Trump is fighting fire with fire.

Through what has been termed his “charm offensive,” Kim had raised hopes that a meeting with Trump could result in him agreeing to abandon nuclear weapons. Analysts have pointed out that is far from assured, however.

Apparently, exuding charm is not something Kim can do for very long. He suddenly switched gears this week. North Korea is back to the harsh rhetoric of the past, condemning the United States and South Korea for joint military exercises — that, it should be noted, were scaled back after Pyonyang protested.

The North Koreans were sorely annoyed, it appears, at an interview Vice President Mike Pence had with Fox News, in which Pence mentioned Kim might face the “Libyan option” — violent regime change — if he could not make deal to denuclearize. North Korea issued a statement calling Pence a “political dummy,” and stating it was up to the U.S. to decide if it would “meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.”

Trump indicated on Monday that the United States will not be bullied. His cancellation of the summit meeting on Thursday is proof of that.

As experience shows, that is the only rational strategy for dealing with North Korea.