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US presidential trips overseas have typically been an chance to display the strength of the United States on the world stage. Trump's multi-day swing through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the power of the leader – but also, at moments, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the first four days were an exercise in pleasing a at times unpredictable American president. It was an acknowledgement that the leader, with the stroke of a pen, could introduce duties and further steps that have the capacity to devastate the financial systems of export-oriented states.

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

It was a meeting of peers on the international scene, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their populations – were immense.

With Beijing, Trump may flick his pen, but such actions come with consequences. They carry a toll.

• The US president hails 'impressive' meeting with Xi but no pact finalized
• Xi and the US leader reach brief pause as Beijing plays longer game

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

Each destination was marked by a mix of standard trade negotiations – agreements made under the threat of the president's "reciprocal" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times verged on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, the president secured access to critical minerals and made progress toward completing commercial deals with regional partners. He also led a agreement that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the US leader loves to tout.

In the Japanese leg, the president's official aircraft passed by a Tokyo Tower illuminated red, white and blue – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Newly elected Head the Japanese leader detailed $550bn in Japan's financial commitments in the America and offered the president a present of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and bag that belonged to the late leader, the murdered past head who connected with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the latest international head to suggest the president for his long-sought peace award.

Not to be outdone, the Korean government received Trump with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that rendered the presidential anthem and YMCA – the band tune that has turned into a presidential event standard.

President the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he awarded the American leader his nation's highest medal and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Subsequently, the hosts served the president fine beverage at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with multiple global figures present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by US citizens who reject his boundary-testing extensions of leader's control, but during his East Asia swing he was received as royalty.

And like the rulers of history, Trump came to South Korea demanding tribute – in the guise of $200bn in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the America, to be used at the discretion of Trump's administration. Consent on the terms of those transfers assisted in that the tax percentage on South Korean goods to the America would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The central moment of Trump's Asian tour took place in its concluding phase, though, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

At that location, the power dynamic between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably different than the interactions Trump had with his international peers in prior visits.

Absent were the usual pomp and the pageantry. Lacking military bands, without honour guards, missing thoughtfully prepared meal plans celebrating mutual national affection. Instead, the pair of counterparts and their key staff sat across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a unremarkable military building just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was perhaps a reflection of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed