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US presidential trips abroad have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the power of the US on the international platform. The president's multi-day trip through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a show of the power of the leader – but also, at points, of that power's constraints.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a at times volatile US leader. It was an acknowledgement that the leader, with the stroke of a hand, could impose taxes and other measures that have the potential to harm the markets of export-oriented countries.

His meeting with China's president Xi Jinping on Thursday, however, was something entirely different.

It was a session of equals on the world platform, where the risks for both nations – for their economies, for their global standing, for the prosperity of their people – were enormous.

With China, Trump may flick his authority, but these moves involve consequences. They carry a cost.

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For the first four days, the president's most recent venture into global diplomacy was uneventful.

Each destination was punctuated by a blend of conventional commercial discussions – arrangements made under the threat of the president's "mutual" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at times bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained entry to key materials and made progress toward completing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also led a agreement that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the president enjoys to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's helicopter passed by a famous structure illuminated red, white and blue – with a summit in gilded.

Newly elected Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi outlined $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and presented the American president a offering of 250 cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and carrier that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed past head who developed ties with the president in his first term.

She also became the latest international head to propose the president for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, South Korea welcomed Trump with artillery firing a traditional greeting and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the musical group song that has turned into a Trump rally anthem.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he presented the president his nation's highest medal and a model of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with Lee contained a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Later that day, the Koreans offered the president premium vintage at an private meal in the president's honour with half-dozen global figures participating in the regional summit meeting.

In the America, the president may be the subject of "No Kings" rallies by Americans who reject his boundary-testing extensions of presidential power, but during his Asian tour he was received as nobility.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, the president arrived in Korea seeking tribute – in the guise of $200 billion in cash payments, $20bn a per year, from South Korea to the United States, to be allocated at the discretion of Trump's administration. Consent on the terms of those payments assisted in that the duty level on host nation products to the United States would fall from 25% to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of Trump's regional visit came in its final hours, nevertheless, as he met with Xi.

In that setting, the authority balance between heads of the world's two largest economies was markedly divergent than the interactions the president had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the pageantry. Lacking armed forces orchestras, no ceremonial troops, no thoughtfully prepared meal plans honoring mutual national affection. By contrast, the both heads and their senior advisors were seated across a long white negotiating table in a plain service structure just near the airstrip of Busan's international airport.

It was likely a indication of the major consequences that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he looked