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Presidential journeys overseas have traditionally been an occasion to showcase the power of the US on the international platform. Trump's five-day trip through Asian nations, conversely, has been a show of the authority of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the opening phase were an exercise in catering to a occasionally unpredictable US leader. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a hand, could enact tariffs and additional actions that have the potential to harm the financial systems of export-dependent nations.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, however, was something entirely different.

It was a encounter of equals on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were significant.

With the Chinese, Trump may wave his pen, but these moves come with consequences. They carry a toll.

• The US president hails 'remarkable' encounter with the Chinese leader but no pact finalized
• The Chinese president and Trump find temporary truce as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the opening segment, Trump's latest foray into international relations was smooth sailing.

Each visit was characterized by a mix of traditional trade negotiations – arrangements made under the pressure of Trump's "mutual" taxes – and special treatment that at moments approached the subservient.

In Malaysia, the president gained rights to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also presided over a agreement that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the US leader loves to highlight.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One passed by a famous structure displayed US flag colors – with a summit in golden.

Newly elected Head the Japanese leader detailed $550 billion in Japanese investments in the America and gave the US leader a gift of two hundred fifty flowering trees for the United States' semiquincentennial, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by former Prime Minister Abe, the killed former prime minister who connected with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the latest international head to nominate the president for his long-sought peace award.

Matching the effort, Korea welcomed Trump with guns discharging a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that rendered the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the Village People song that has evolved into a Trump rally theme.

President the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he awarded the US president his country's premier award and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered baked goods. Later that day, the hosts provided the president vineyard wine at an private meal in Trump's honour with multiple global figures present at the regional summit meeting.

In the US, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by US citizens who reject his limit-pushing increases of leader's control, but during his East Asia visit he was received as nobility.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump arrived in South Korea demanding payment – in the shape of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a per year, from the host nation to the US, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's administration. Approval on the conditions of those payments contributed to that the duty level on South Korean exports to the US would decrease from 25% to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of the president's Asia trip occurred in its last moments, nevertheless, as he met with the Chinese leader.

There, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was noticeably divergent than the exchanges Trump had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

Missing were typical ceremony and the display. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent protocol units, without thoughtfully prepared menus marking shared goodwill. By contrast, the both heads and their senior advisors sat across a long white meeting furniture in a nondescript service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's air transport hub.

It was likely a indication of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with Xi in Busan, he looked