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US presidential trips overseas have historically been an chance to demonstrate the strength of the United States on the world stage. The president's multi-day tour through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a show of the clout of Trump – but also, at moments, of that authority's constraints.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the first four days were an exercise in satisfying a at times unpredictable American president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the signature of a pen, could impose duties and additional actions that have the potential to harm the markets of trade-reliant states.

His discussion with Chinese leader Xi on the final day, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of counterparts on the international scene, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their citizens – were significant.

With Beijing, the US leader may wave his authority, but these moves involve repercussions. They involve a cost.

• Trump praises 'impressive' meeting with the Chinese leader but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and Trump find short-term ceasefire as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, the president's most recent venture into international relations was uneventful.

Each stop was punctuated by a mix of standard commercial discussions – arrangements made under the shadow of the president's "equivalent" duties – and special treatment that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to critical minerals and made headway toward concluding commercial deals with regional partners. He also oversaw a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the American president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's Marine One soared near a Tokyo Tower lit red, white and blue – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Leader Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the America and offered the American president a present of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for the United States' semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that came from Shinzo Abe, the killed past head who connected with the president in his previous administration.

She also became the newest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, Korea welcomed Trump with cannons firing a 21-gun salute and a military band that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the musical group anthem that has evolved into a political gathering standard.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for the US leader during which he presented the president his country's highest medal and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with the Korean leader included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted brownies. Later that day, the Koreans served the president fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's honor with multiple world leaders participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" rallies by US citizens who oppose his boundary-testing extensions of executive authority, but during his Asian swing he was handled as royalty.

And like the kings of ancient times, the president came to South Korea seeking tribute – in the guise of $200bn in monetary contributions, $20 billion a year, from South Korea to the US, to be invested at the direction of Trump's administration. Consent on the details of those payments contributed to that the tariff rate on host nation products to the US would drop from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The main event of Trump's Asia trip came in its final hours, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

At that location, the power dynamic between leaders of the global top two markets was noticeably divergent than the exchanges the president had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Not present were the usual pomp and the spectacle. No military bands, no protocol units, missing carefully crafted menus celebrating bilateral friendship. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their key staff were seated across a long white discussion surface in a unremarkable military building just near the airstrip of Busan's air transport hub.

It was possibly a indication of the major consequences that when the president shook hands with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed