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US presidential trips overseas have traditionally been an chance to demonstrate the influence of the US on the international platform. Trump's week-long tour through Asian nations, on the other hand, has been a show of the authority of Trump – but also, at points, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an display in satisfying a at times volatile president. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a pen, could impose duties and other measures that have the capacity to damage the economies of export-oriented nations.

His sit-down with Chinese leader Xi on the final day, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the international scene, where the risks for the two powers – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their people – were significant.

With Beijing, the US leader may flick his authority, but such actions come with ramifications. They carry a price.

• The US president praises 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no pact agreed
• Xi and Trump establish brief pause as China adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, Trump's recent foray into international relations was smooth sailing.

Each destination was punctuated by a mix of standard commercial discussions – deals made under the shadow of Trump's "equivalent" taxes – and special treatment that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained rights to key materials and made headway toward finalizing trade arrangements with south-east Asian nations. He also presided over a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the US leader enjoys to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter flew past a landmark tower illuminated American colors – with a peak in gilded.

Freshly appointed Head Takaichi outlined $550bn in Japan's financial commitments in the America and presented the US leader a gift of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a sports gear and carrier that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who bonded with the president in his first term.

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

Not to be outdone, the Korean government greeted the president with cannons discharging a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that rendered the leader's song and the Village People song – the Village People anthem that has turned into a Trump rally anthem.

President Lee held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he awarded the American leader his country's highest medal and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with Lee included a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered baked goods. Afterward, the South Koreans served Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with six world leaders attending the regional summit conference.

In the US, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" protests by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding expansions of presidential power, but during his East Asia visit he was treated like monarchy.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, the president arrived in South Korea demanding payment – in the shape of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $20 billion a year, from Korea to the America, to be invested at the direction of the president's leadership. Approval on the details of those contributions contributed to that the tariff rate on Korean goods to the America would decrease from a quarter to 15%.

The main event of the president's regional visit came in its last moments, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the power dynamic between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was decidedly different than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in previous days.

Missing were all the pomp and the display. Without any armed forces orchestras, no honour guards, no thoughtfully prepared meal plans marking bilateral friendship. By contrast, the two leaders and their top aides were seated across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a unremarkable armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was possibly a demonstration of the major consequences that when Trump exchanged greetings with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he seemed