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US presidential trips overseas have typically been an chance to demonstrate the strength of the United States on the global scene. The president's multi-day swing through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the power of Trump – but also, at times, of that authority's boundaries.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the first four days were an demonstration in pleasing a sometimes unpredictable president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the stroke of a document, could enact duties and additional actions that have the ability to damage the markets of trade-reliant countries.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of peers on the world platform, where the stakes for the two powers – for their financial health, for their global standing, for the prosperity of their populations – were immense.

With Beijing, the president may wave his pen, but such actions come with ramifications. They involve a cost.

• Trump describes 'amazing' meeting with Xi but no agreement finalized
• The Chinese president and the US leader establish temporary truce as China plays longer game

For the opening segment, the president's latest foray into international relations was successful.

Each destination was marked by a combination of standard trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of Trump's "mutual" duties – and personal accommodations that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president obtained entry to essential resources and made progress toward finalizing commercial deals with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "truce" the American president prefers to tout.

In Japan, the president's official aircraft flew past a landmark tower illuminated American colors – with a peak in gilded.

Recently chosen Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi detailed $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the US leader a gift of 250 flowering trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a sports gear and carrier that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the newest foreign leader to nominate the president for his much-desired international honor.

Matching the effort, Korea greeted Trump with cannons discharging a 21-gun salute and a armed forces orchestra that performed Hail to the Chief and YMCA – the musical group anthem that has become a presidential event standard.

President Lee held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he awarded the American leader his nation's top honor and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with Lee featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans offered Trump fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in the president's honour with six world leaders attending the APEC summit.

In the America, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by Americans who disapprove of his limit-pushing extensions of leader's control, but during his Asian tour he was handled as royalty.

And like the kings of history, Trump came to Korea requesting tribute – in the form of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $20 billion a annually, from Korea to the America, to be invested at the guidance of the president's government. Approval on the terms of those transfers assisted in that the tax percentage on Korean products to the America would decrease from 25% to 15%.

The main event of Trump's Asian tour took place in its final hours, though, as he encountered Xi.

There, the power dynamic between counterparts of the global top two markets was markedly divergent than the exchanges Trump had with his international peers in prior visits.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the spectacle. Without any service ensembles, absent protocol units, no thoughtfully prepared meal plans honoring bilateral friendship. Instead, the pair of counterparts and their top aides sat across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a nondescript service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's global terminal.

It was possibly a demonstration of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with Xi in the southern port, he appeared