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US presidential trips overseas have typically been an chance to demonstrate the power of the US on the international platform. The president's week-long tour through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a show of the authority of the leader – but also, at points, of that influence's limitations.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the initial days were an demonstration in satisfying a sometimes mercurial president. It was an acknowledgement that the leader, with the stroke of a pen, could introduce duties and other measures that have the potential to devastate the financial systems of export-oriented states.

His sit-down with China's president Xi Jinping on the last day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a session of equals on the international scene, where the consequences for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their citizens – were enormous.

With China, Trump may flick his pen, but these moves involve ramifications. They come with a price.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' talks with Xi but no pact finalized
• Xi and the US leader establish temporary truce as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, the president's latest foray into world politics was uneventful.

Each visit was characterized by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – arrangements made under the shadow of the president's "reciprocal" taxes – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president obtained access to essential resources and made progress toward concluding economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also led a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the US leader loves to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter soared near a Tokyo Tower lit US flag colors – with a summit in golden.

Recently chosen Head Takaichi outlined $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the US and presented the president a offering of a quarter-thousand sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by the late leader, the assassinated former prime minister who developed ties with the president in his initial presidency.

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

Keeping pace, the Korean government welcomed the president with cannons performing a honor salute and a military band that rendered Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the band tune that has become a Trump rally anthem.

Head the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the president his nation's highest medal and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with the Korean leader contained a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans served the president fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with multiple global figures present at the regional summit meeting.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by the public who disapprove of his limit-pushing extensions of leader's control, but during his regional tour he was treated like nobility.

And like the rulers of old, the president visited Korea demanding payment – in the guise of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $20bn a annually, from the host nation to the United States, to be used at the guidance of the president's administration. Agreement on the details of those transfers helped ensure that the tariff rate on South Korean products to the US would decrease from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The primary focus of Trump's Asia trip took place in its concluding phase, nevertheless, as he met with Xi.

There, the authority balance between counterparts of the global top two markets was markedly divergent than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in prior visits.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, no protocol units, without carefully crafted dining selections marking mutual national affection. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors sat across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a nondescript armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a demonstration of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with the Chinese leader in Busan, he looked