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US presidential trips overseas have historically been an chance to demonstrate the power of the American nation on the world stage. Trump's five-day tour through East Asia, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at moments, of that influence's constraints.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the first four days were an exercise in satisfying a occasionally mercurial president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the signature of a pen, could impose duties and other measures that have the potential to harm the markets of export-dependent states.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, nevertheless, was a distinct situation.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the international scene, where the consequences for each country – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the welfare of their populations – were immense.

With China, the US leader may flick his power, but those steps entail consequences. They come with a price.

• The US president hails 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no pact reached
• Xi and Trump establish brief pause as Beijing adopts strategic patience

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

Each destination was characterized by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – arrangements made under the threat of the president's "mutual" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times approached the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained entry to key materials and made headway toward finalizing commercial deals with regional partners. He also oversaw a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace deal" the US leader prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's official aircraft soared near a famous structure lit red, white and blue – with a top in golden.

Newly elected Prime Minister the Japanese leader described $half-trillion in Japan's financial commitments in the United States and offered the American president a present of 250 flowering trees for America's 250th birthday, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by the late leader, the killed past head who developed ties with Trump in his first term.

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

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed the president with artillery discharging a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that performed Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the Village People song that has become a Trump rally anthem.

Head the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his state's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with Lee contained a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-covered baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans served the president fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honor with multiple global figures attending the APEC summit.

In the United States, the president may be the focus of "No Kings" rallies by the public who reject his limit-pushing extensions of executive authority, but during his regional swing he was received as nobility.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump visited Korea demanding tribute – in the form of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a year, from South Korea to the United States, to be allocated at the guidance of the president's administration. Agreement on the terms of those contributions assisted in that the tax percentage on South Korean goods to the US would drop from a quarter to 15%.

The primary focus of the president's regional visit occurred in its concluding phase, though, as he met with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the authority balance between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably divergent than the interactions the president had with his overseas colleagues in previous days.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the spectacle. Without any armed forces orchestras, no ceremonial troops, no thoughtfully prepared menus marking shared goodwill. Rather, the both heads and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a long white discussion surface in a plain military building just adjacent to the landing strip of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was perhaps a indication of the significant risks that when the president made contact with Xi in the southern port, he appeared