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Presidential journeys overseas have typically been an opportunity to demonstrate the power of the American nation on the international platform. Donald Trump's multi-day swing through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at moments, of that authority's constraints.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the initial days were an display in satisfying a occasionally unpredictable American president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the flick of a document, could impose tariffs and additional actions that have the ability to damage the markets of export-oriented nations.

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

It was a encounter of equals on the international scene, where the stakes for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their populations – were significant.

With Beijing, the US leader may wave his authority, but those steps involve repercussions. They involve a price.

• Trump praises 'impressive' meeting with Xi but no pact reached
• Xi and Trump reach short-term ceasefire as Beijing plays longer game

For the first four days, the president's latest entry into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each destination was punctuated by a blend of traditional economic talks – arrangements made under the shadow of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and special treatment that at times bordered on the obsequious.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained entry to key materials and made advances toward completing commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also led a pact that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the president enjoys to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One passed by a famous structure displayed red, white and blue – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Leader Sanai Takaichi detailed $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the America and presented the American president a gift of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and carrier that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the murdered past head who bonded with Trump in his first term.

She also became the latest foreign leader to propose Trump for his highly-coveted peace award.

Matching the effort, the Korean government received the president with guns performing a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that rendered the leader's song and the Village People song – the band song that has evolved into a political gathering standard.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he gave the president his state's highest medal and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with Lee contained a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered baked goods. Afterward, the South Koreans provided Trump vineyard wine at an private meal in the president's honour with multiple world leaders present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meeting.

In the America, the president may be the target of "Anti-Authority" rallies by US citizens who oppose his boundary-testing extensions of leader's control, but during his regional tour he was handled as royalty.

And like the monarchs of history, Trump arrived in the Korean nation requesting contribution – in the form of $200 billion in financial transfers, $20bn a year, from the host nation to the United States, to be used at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the terms of those payments assisted in that the tariff rate on South Korean goods to the America would fall from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The central moment of Trump's regional visit occurred in its concluding phase, though, as he encountered Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly distinct than the meetings Trump had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the spectacle. No military bands, without protocol units, missing meticulously designed dining selections celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the two leaders and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a nondescript armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

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