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American leader visits overseas have typically been an chance to display the power of the United States on the international platform. Trump's week-long trip through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a show of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that influence's boundaries.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the opening phase were an display in catering to a occasionally unpredictable American president. It was an recognition that the leader, with the stroke of a document, could introduce duties and further steps that have the capacity to damage the economies of trade-reliant states.

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

It was a session of peers on the global stage, where the stakes for each country – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their citizens – were immense.

With the Chinese, the president may wave his authority, but those steps involve repercussions. They carry a toll.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no agreement agreed
• The Chinese president and Trump establish short-term ceasefire as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, Trump's most recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each stop was characterized by a combination of conventional trade negotiations – agreements made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president gained entry to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing trade arrangements with south-east Asian nations. He also led a pact that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the president prefers to promote.

In Japan, the president's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower illuminated US flag colors – with a peak in Trumpian gold.

Newly elected Leader Sanai Takaichi outlined $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the US and offered the American president a offering of a quarter-thousand sakura trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf club and bag that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the killed former prime minister who bonded with the president in his first term.

She also became the newest foreign leader to propose the president for his highly-coveted international honor.

Not to be outdone, Korea welcomed Trump with artillery discharging a honor salute and a armed forces orchestra that performed the leader's song and YMCA – the Village People tune that has evolved into a presidential event standard.

President Lee held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he gave the US president his country's top honor and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with Lee featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Later that day, the hosts offered Trump vineyard wine at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with six global figures attending the regional summit meeting.

In the United States, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by the public who disapprove of his boundary-testing increases of executive authority, but during his Asian swing he was received as royalty.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, Trump visited the Korean nation seeking payment – in the form of $two hundred billion in financial transfers, $20bn a year, from Korea to the US, to be used at the discretion of the president's administration. Agreement on the terms of those transfers helped ensure that the tariff rate on Korean goods to the US would fall from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The central moment of Trump's regional visit took place in its last moments, however, as he sat down with Xi.

In that setting, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was noticeably divergent than the meetings Trump had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Not present were the usual ceremony and the spectacle. No military bands, without ceremonial troops, missing thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring mutual national affection. Rather, the two leaders and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a unremarkable military building just off the runway of the city of Busan's global terminal.

It was likely a reflection of the major consequences that when the president shook hands with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked