"From both a process and a substance standpoint, I think the summit was doomed from the get-go," Clapper, now a CNN analyst, told the network Tuesday of the Trump-Kim meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
A key problem, Clapper said, was that the U.S. and North Korea haven’t agreed on the meaning of denuclearization and what would entail for Kim’s regime.
Further, Clapper said, it appeared that aides to the two leaders prepared nothing ahead of time for an agreement, making the summit little more than a round of negotiations rather than a deal-making occasion.
"I think just a lack of preparation, or a combination of that and perhaps the president’s hubris ― he thought he could charm King Jong Un into agreeing to anything and it isn’t sufficient for us simply to demand that the North Koreans denuclearize when the only apparent promise is we’ll be less coercive," Clapper said.