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Presidential journeys internationally have typically been an opportunity to display the strength of the United States on the global scene. Donald Trump's multi-day trip through eastern Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the power of Trump – but also, at points, of that authority's boundaries.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the opening phase were an display in satisfying a occasionally mercurial president. It was an admission that the leader, with the flick of a pen, could enact taxes and additional actions that have the capacity to damage the economies of trade-reliant nations.

His sit-down with Beijing's head Xi on Thursday, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of peers on the global stage, where the consequences for the two powers – for their markets, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were immense.

With the Chinese, the US leader may wave his authority, but such actions entail consequences. They come with a cost.

• The US president hails 'amazing' encounter with Xi but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader establish temporary truce as Beijing plays longer game

For the first four days, Trump's most recent foray into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each destination was characterized by a blend of conventional commercial discussions – arrangements made under the shadow of the president's "mutual" duties – and personal accommodations that at moments verged on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained rights to key materials and made progress toward completing commercial deals with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should reduce border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace deal" the president enjoys to tout.

In the Japanese leg, the president's helicopter flew past a famous structure lit red, white and blue – with a peak in golden.

Freshly appointed Leader Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Japanese investments in the US and offered the American president a gift of two hundred fifty flowering trees for the United States' semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and case that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his first term.

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

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed Trump with guns performing a traditional greeting and a military band that played the leader's song and the classic tune – the band tune that has turned into a presidential event anthem.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his state's highest medal and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with Lee contained a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Subsequently, the Koreans provided the president premium vintage at an intimate dinner in the president's recognition with multiple global figures attending the regional summit summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" rallies by Americans who disapprove of his authority-expanding increases of leader's control, but during his regional visit he was treated like royalty.

And like the rulers of ancient times, the president came to South Korea demanding tribute – in the shape of $200bn in cash payments, $twenty billion a annually, from Korea to the America, to be allocated at the discretion of the president's leadership. Agreement on the details of those contributions assisted in that the tariff rate on South Korean goods to the America would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The central moment of the president's Asia trip came in its last moments, though, as he sat down with Xi.

At that location, the power dynamic between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably distinct than the interactions Trump had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

Not present were typical ceremony and the spectacle. Without any service ensembles, absent ceremonial troops, no thoughtfully prepared meal plans marking bilateral friendship. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors were seated across a long white meeting furniture in a unremarkable armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the high stakes that when the president made contact with Xi in Busan, he seemed