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American leader visits abroad have typically been an chance to demonstrate the influence of the US on the global scene. Trump's multi-day trip through East Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the authority of the leader – but also, at points, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the initial days were an demonstration in satisfying a at times unpredictable US leader. It was an acknowledgement that the president, with the signature of a document, could enact taxes and other measures that have the ability to harm the economies of export-oriented countries.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on the final day, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the world platform, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were enormous.

With Beijing, Trump may use his pen, but such actions involve repercussions. They come with a price.

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For the opening segment, the president's recent entry into international relations was successful.

Each stop was punctuated by a combination of standard commercial discussions – agreements made under the pressure of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump secured rights to essential resources and made progress toward finalizing commercial deals with south-east Asian nations. He also led a agreement that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace agreement" the US leader loves to promote.

In Japan, Trump's helicopter passed by a famous structure displayed US flag colors – with a top in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Head Sanai Takaichi detailed $550bn in Japanese investments in the America and offered the president a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and case that came from Shinzo Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who connected with Trump in his first term.

She also became the newest overseas counterpart to propose Trump for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, South Korea received Trump with artillery discharging a 21-gun salute and a armed forces orchestra that played the leader's song and the classic tune – the Village People song that has become a presidential event standard.

Head Lee held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he presented the US president his nation's highest medal and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with Lee included a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded brownies. Subsequently, the South Koreans provided the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honour with half-dozen international heads participating in the regional summit summit.

In the United States, the president may be the focus of "No Kings" rallies by Americans who oppose his limit-pushing increases of executive authority, but during his regional tour he was received as royalty.

And like the kings of ancient times, the president came to South Korea requesting contribution – in the shape of $200bn in cash payments, $20 billion a per year, from South Korea to the United States, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the conditions of those payments contributed to that the tax percentage on South Korean products to the US would drop from a quarter to under twenty percent.

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

In that setting, the power dynamic between heads of the world's two largest economies was noticeably different than the exchanges Trump had with his international peers in previous days.

Missing were the usual pomp and the display. Lacking service ensembles, absent ceremonial troops, missing meticulously designed meal plans honoring mutual national affection. By contrast, the both heads and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a large pale discussion surface in a plain military building just near the airstrip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was possibly a indication of the major consequences that when Trump shook hands with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he seemed