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US presidential trips overseas have historically been an chance to demonstrate the power of the United States on the international platform. Trump's five-day swing through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a display of the clout of the leader – but also, at points, of that authority's limitations.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the first four days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes mercurial president. It was an recognition that Trump, with the stroke of a document, could introduce tariffs and additional actions that have the ability to devastate the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on the last day, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of peers on the world platform, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their people – were immense.

With Beijing, the US leader may flick his power, but those steps entail ramifications. They come with a cost.

• The US president hails 'amazing' talks with the Chinese leader but no agreement finalized
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For the initial phase, the president's latest venture into world politics was uneventful.

Each visit was marked by a combination of conventional trade negotiations – arrangements made under the threat of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and individual concessions that at moments approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained rights to key materials and made advances toward completing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also led a pact that should ease border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the president loves to tout.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One flew past a landmark tower lit red, white and blue – with a top in gilded.

Newly elected Leader the Japanese leader described $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the America and gave the American president a gift of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and carrier that came from the late leader, the killed ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his first term.

She also became the latest foreign leader to nominate Trump for his long-sought peace award.

Matching the effort, Korea welcomed Trump with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that rendered Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the band anthem that has turned into a Trump rally standard.

Leader Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the president his country's top honor and a model of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with Lee contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gilded baked goods. Later that day, the hosts served the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six world leaders present at the regional summit summit.

In the United States, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" rallies by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding extensions of leader's control, but during his Asian visit he was received as nobility.

And like the rulers of old, Trump came to Korea requesting tribute – in the shape of $200bn in monetary contributions, $20bn a year, from South Korea to the America, to be invested at the guidance of the president's government. Approval on the conditions of those transfers helped ensure that the tax percentage on Korean exports to the US would drop from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The main event of Trump's Asia trip occurred in its last moments, however, as he encountered Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was decidedly distinct than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in earlier stops.

Not present were typical ceremony and the pageantry. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent ceremonial troops, without carefully crafted dining selections marking bilateral friendship. By contrast, the two leaders and their key staff positioned themselves across a long white meeting furniture in a plain military building just off the runway of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a indication of the significant risks that when Trump made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he looked