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Presidential journeys abroad have traditionally been an chance to showcase the power of the US on the global scene. Donald Trump's multi-day trip through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a display of the clout of Trump – but also, at moments, of that authority's constraints.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a occasionally mercurial president. It was an admission that the president, with the flick of a document, could enact duties and further steps that have the capacity to harm the markets of trade-reliant nations.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for the two powers – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their populations – were enormous.

With Beijing, the president may wave his authority, but these moves involve repercussions. They involve a cost.

• The US president describes 'impressive' talks with the Chinese leader but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader establish short-term ceasefire as Beijing plays longer game

For the opening segment, Trump's most recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each visit was marked by a blend of conventional commercial discussions – deals made under the threat of the president's "mutual" duties – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the obsequious.

In Malaysia, the president obtained access to essential resources and made progress toward finalizing commercial deals with regional partners. He also oversaw a pact that should alleviate border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the president enjoys to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a landmark tower lit US flag colors – with a summit in golden.

Newly elected Leader Takaichi described $half-trillion in Japan's financial commitments in the United States and offered the president a offering of two hundred fifty flowering trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and case that belonged to the late leader, the assassinated ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his first term.

She also became the most recent foreign leader to propose the president for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Matching the effort, the Korean government greeted the president with cannons discharging a traditional greeting and a military band that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the Village People song that has turned into a Trump rally standard.

Leader the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he presented the US president his country's top honor and a copy of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with Lee contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered baked goods. Subsequently, the hosts provided Trump vineyard wine at an intimate dinner in Trump's honour with half-dozen global figures present at the regional summit meeting.

In the US, the president may be the target of "Anti-Authority" rallies by US citizens who reject his limit-pushing expansions of leader's control, but during his Asian tour he was handled as royalty.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump arrived in South Korea demanding tribute – in the form of $two hundred billion in financial transfers, $20bn a per year, from the host nation to the United States, to be invested at the guidance of the president's administration. Approval on the details of those payments helped ensure that the tariff rate on host nation products to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The main event of the president's Asia trip came in its last moments, though, as he met with Xi.

At that location, the authority balance between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was markedly different than the interactions Trump had with his overseas colleagues in previous days.

Absent were all the pomp and the pageantry. Without any military bands, no ceremonial troops, missing meticulously designed meal plans honoring bilateral friendship. Instead, the two leaders and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white meeting furniture in a unremarkable service structure just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the major consequences that when Trump shook hands with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he seemed