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Presidential journeys abroad have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the influence of the US on the global scene. Trump's five-day trip through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a show of the authority of Trump – but also, at times, of that power's constraints.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the opening phase were an demonstration in pleasing a sometimes mercurial American president. It was an recognition that Trump, with the flick of a hand, could enact taxes and further steps that have the ability to devastate the markets of export-dependent countries.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on the final day, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of peers on the international scene, where the risks for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their people – were immense.

With China, the US leader may use his authority, but those steps come with ramifications. They carry a cost.

• Trump describes 'amazing' meeting with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and the US leader find temporary truce as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, the president's recent foray into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each destination was punctuated by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – arrangements made under the threat of Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs – and special treatment that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained rights to essential resources and made progress toward finalizing commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also presided over a pact that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace deal" the American president enjoys to promote.

In the Japanese leg, the president's official aircraft flew past a landmark tower lit American colors – with a top in golden.

Newly elected Head the Japanese leader described $550 billion in Japanese investments in the US and offered the American president a gift of two hundred fifty sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf club and carrier that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated ex-leader who developed ties with the president in his previous administration.

She also became the newest foreign leader to nominate Trump for his much-desired peace award.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted the president with cannons performing a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that rendered Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the musical group song that has become a political gathering standard.

Leader the Korean president held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the US president his state's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with Lee included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Later that day, the hosts served the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in the president's recognition with six international heads participating in the regional summit conference.

In the America, the president may be the focus of "No Kings" protests by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding extensions of executive authority, but during his regional swing he was treated like monarchy.

And like the kings of history, Trump arrived in the Korean nation requesting contribution – in the guise of $two hundred billion in financial transfers, $twenty billion a annually, from Korea to the United States, to be allocated at the guidance of the president's government. Approval on the conditions of those contributions assisted in that the tariff rate on host nation goods to the United States would fall from twenty-five percent to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour came in its last moments, though, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably divergent than the interactions the president had with his international peers in earlier stops.

Absent were typical ceremony and the spectacle. Without any service ensembles, no honour guards, no carefully crafted menus marking bilateral friendship. By contrast, the two leaders and their key staff sat across a large pale negotiating table in a plain service structure just near the airstrip of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was likely a indication of the significant risks that when Trump made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he seemed