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US presidential trips overseas have typically been an opportunity to showcase the power of the US on the global scene. Trump's five-day trip through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a display of the authority of Trump – but also, at moments, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the opening phase were an exercise in pleasing a at times volatile president. It was an recognition that the president, with the flick of a hand, could impose tariffs and additional actions that have the ability to devastate the markets of export-dependent countries.

His sit-down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the last day, however, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of counterparts on the international scene, where the risks for each country – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the welfare of their people – were immense.

With the Chinese, Trump may wave his pen, but such actions come with ramifications. They come with a toll.

• Trump hails 'remarkable' meeting with the Chinese leader but no agreement finalized
• Xi and Trump find short-term ceasefire as China adopts strategic patience

For the first four days, the president's recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each destination was marked by a mix of conventional commercial discussions – deals made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" tariffs – and special treatment that at points bordered on the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president secured rights to essential resources and made headway toward concluding commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a pact that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the American president loves to tout.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One flew past a Tokyo Tower lit red, white and blue – with a peak in golden.

Freshly appointed Head Takaichi described $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the America and presented the president a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf club and case that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the killed past head who bonded with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the most recent international head to suggest Trump for his much-desired peace award.

Not to be outdone, Korea greeted Trump with artillery discharging a 21-gun salute and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and YMCA – the musical group tune that has turned into a Trump rally standard.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his country's top honor and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered brownies. Afterward, the hosts provided Trump fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's recognition with half-dozen global figures present at the APEC summit.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by US citizens who reject his limit-pushing extensions of presidential power, but during his East Asia tour he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, Trump came to Korea seeking contribution – in the form of $200 billion in financial transfers, $twenty billion a per year, from the host nation to the United States, to be invested at the guidance of Trump's government. Consent on the terms of those payments contributed to that the tax percentage on host nation products to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's Asia trip occurred in its final hours, though, as he met with Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was decidedly different than the exchanges Trump had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Not present were typical pageantry and the spectacle. No service ensembles, absent honour guards, missing carefully crafted dining selections marking mutual national affection. Rather, the two leaders and their key staff were seated across a long white discussion surface in a plain service structure just near the airstrip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was possibly a demonstration of the high stakes that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in the Korean city, he seemed