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American leader visits internationally have typically been an occasion to showcase the influence of the American nation on the global scene. The president's five-day swing through East Asia, conversely, has been a display of the clout of the president – but also, at moments, of that authority's constraints.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the first four days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes unpredictable American president. It was an acknowledgement that the leader, with the signature of a hand, could introduce tariffs and additional actions that have the capacity to harm the financial systems of export-dependent states.

His sit-down with China's president Xi Jinping on the final day, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of equals on the international scene, where the stakes for the two powers – for their financial health, for their global standing, for the well-being of their people – were enormous.

With Beijing, the US leader may wave his pen, but those steps entail repercussions. They come with a price.

• Trump hails 'remarkable' encounter with the Chinese leader but no agreement agreed
• Xi and the US leader find temporary truce as Beijing plays longer game

For the opening segment, Trump's most recent entry into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each stop was punctuated by a mix of conventional trade negotiations – deals made under the pressure of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and special treatment that at times bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump secured entry to critical minerals and made headway toward concluding trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a pact that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the American president enjoys to tout.

In Japan, Trump's helicopter passed by a landmark tower illuminated red, white and blue – with a peak in Trumpian gold.

Freshly appointed Head Sanai Takaichi described $half-trillion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and presented the American president a gift of two hundred fifty flowering trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a golf club and carrier that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the assassinated past head who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

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

Matching the effort, Korea received Trump with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that played the leader's song and YMCA – the band tune that has evolved into a presidential event anthem.

Head the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he awarded the American leader his country's top honor and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with Lee included a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Later that day, the Koreans provided the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six international heads attending the APEC conference.

In the US, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by Americans who reject his authority-expanding expansions of executive authority, but during his Asian swing he was handled as monarchy.

And like the rulers of ancient times, the president arrived in Korea demanding payment – in the shape of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a year, from the host nation to the United States, to be invested at the guidance of Trump's leadership. Approval on the terms of those contributions contributed to that the tax percentage on Korean goods to the United States would fall from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour came in its concluding phase, however, as he met with the Chinese leader.

At that location, the influence relationship between heads of the global top two markets was decidedly divergent than the exchanges the president had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Absent were all the ceremony and the pageantry. No military bands, absent honour guards, without thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring shared goodwill. Instead, the both heads and their key staff were seated across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript armed forces facility just off the runway of the city of Busan's global terminal.

It was possibly a reflection of the high stakes that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he looked