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US presidential trips overseas have traditionally been an occasion to showcase the power of the US on the international platform. Donald Trump's multi-day tour through East Asia, conversely, has been a display of the clout of the president – but also, at moments, of that authority's limitations.

The president's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the opening phase were an demonstration in satisfying a occasionally unpredictable president. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a hand, could impose tariffs and additional actions that have the potential to devastate the economies of trade-reliant states.

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

It was a session of equals on the international scene, where the stakes for each country – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their people – were immense.

With Beijing, the president may wave his pen, but those steps entail ramifications. They come with a toll.

• Trump hails 'remarkable' encounter with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and the US leader establish short-term ceasefire as China plays longer game

For the initial phase, the president's recent entry into global diplomacy was successful.

Each stop was marked by a combination of standard trade negotiations – agreements made under the threat of the president's "mutual" tariffs – and special treatment that at moments approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained rights to essential resources and made headway toward completing trade arrangements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the US leader prefers to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a landmark tower lit US flag colors – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Leader Sanai Takaichi outlined $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the US and presented the president a gift of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that was owned by the late leader, the assassinated past head who bonded with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the newest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his long-sought peace award.

Not to be outdone, Korea welcomed Trump with guns performing a traditional greeting and a military band that rendered the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the band tune that has turned into a political gathering standard.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his country's top honor and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered brownies. Subsequently, the South Koreans provided Trump fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's recognition with multiple world leaders present at the APEC meeting.

In the US, the president may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by US citizens who oppose his authority-expanding expansions of leader's control, but during his Asian swing he was treated like nobility.

And like the kings of old, the president came to Korea demanding contribution – in the guise of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the America, to be used at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the conditions of those transfers assisted in that the tariff rate on South Korean products to the US would decrease from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The main event of Trump's regional visit occurred in its final hours, though, as he sat down with Xi.

At that location, the influence relationship between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly divergent than the meetings Trump had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

Absent were typical pageantry and the display. Without any military bands, no ceremonial troops, no thoughtfully prepared meal plans celebrating bilateral friendship. By contrast, the both heads and their key staff positioned themselves across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a plain armed forces facility just off the runway of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a indication of the major consequences that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in Busan, he looked