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Presidential journeys internationally have typically been an opportunity to display the power of the US on the international platform. The president's week-long tour through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the clout of the leader – but also, at times, of that influence's constraints.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the first four days were an exercise in catering to a occasionally mercurial US leader. It was an recognition that Trump, with the flick of a pen, could enact duties and further steps that have the ability to damage the financial systems of export-oriented nations.

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

It was a session of counterparts on the international scene, where the stakes for both nations – for their financial health, for their global standing, for the well-being of their citizens – were immense.

With China, Trump may flick his power, but those steps entail consequences. They come with a cost.

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For the initial phase, the president's most recent venture into international relations was smooth sailing.

Each destination was punctuated by a combination of traditional economic talks – agreements made under the threat of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and individual concessions that at points approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, Trump secured entry to key materials and made progress toward completing trade arrangements with regional partners. He also presided over a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the American president enjoys to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower displayed US flag colors – with a top in gilded.

Newly elected Head the Japanese leader detailed $550bn in Japanese investments in the United States and offered the American president a gift of 250 sakura trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf club and case that was owned by former Prime Minister Abe, the killed former prime minister who developed ties with the president in his previous administration.

She also became the latest international head to propose Trump for his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed the president with guns performing a 21-gun salute and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and YMCA – the band anthem that has become a presidential event anthem.

Leader the Korean president held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he gave the president his nation's premier award and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with Lee contained a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Later that day, the hosts provided the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in Trump's recognition with multiple global figures present at the regional summit conference.

In the United States, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Authority" protests by the public who reject his boundary-testing extensions of executive authority, but during his regional tour he was treated like royalty.

And like the kings of ancient times, the president visited Korea requesting tribute – in the guise of $200bn in cash payments, $20 billion a annually, from the host nation to the US, to be used at the direction of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the terms of those payments contributed to that the duty level on South Korean products to the US would decrease from a quarter to 15%.

The main event of Trump's Asia trip came in its final hours, however, as he encountered Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between leaders of the world's two largest economies was decidedly divergent than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Not present were all the pomp and the pageantry. No military bands, no ceremonial troops, missing carefully crafted menus honoring shared goodwill. Instead, the both heads and their top aides sat across a large pale meeting furniture in a plain armed forces facility just near the airstrip of Busan's global terminal.

It was possibly a indication of the significant risks that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he appeared