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US presidential trips internationally have typically been an occasion to showcase the strength of the American nation on the global scene. Donald Trump's five-day swing through East Asia, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the clout of the leader – but also, at moments, of that authority's limitations.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the first four days were an demonstration in satisfying a occasionally unpredictable president. It was an admission that the leader, with the signature of a hand, could introduce taxes and other measures that have the capacity to devastate the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

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

It was a encounter of peers on the global stage, where the consequences for each country – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their citizens – were significant.

With the Chinese, the US leader may use his pen, but those steps come with repercussions. They involve a price.

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For the opening segment, the president's most recent venture into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each destination was marked by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at moments bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained access to key materials and made headway toward concluding economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a treaty that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "truce" the US leader loves to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a famous structure displayed American colors – with a peak in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the America and presented the American president a present of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th birthday, and a sports gear and carrier that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated past head who bonded with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the latest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted Trump with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a military band that performed the presidential anthem and the Village People song – the Village People song that has evolved into a presidential event anthem.

Head the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he awarded the US president his country's top honor and a copy of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with Lee included a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded baked goods. Subsequently, the Koreans offered the president fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's recognition with half-dozen international heads present at the APEC conference.

In the US, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" protests by the public who reject his authority-expanding expansions of presidential power, but during his East Asia swing he was received as monarchy.

And like the rulers of old, Trump arrived in Korea requesting payment – in the shape of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $20bn a annually, from the host nation to the America, to be invested at the direction of the president's government. Approval on the details of those payments assisted in that the tax percentage on South Korean exports to the United States would drop from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's regional visit came in its concluding phase, though, as he sat down with Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly divergent than the meetings Trump had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Absent were typical ceremony and the display. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, no thoughtfully prepared dining selections celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their key staff were seated across a large pale negotiating table in a unremarkable armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the high stakes that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he appeared