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American leader visits abroad have typically been an occasion to showcase the strength of the United States on the global scene. Donald Trump's week-long trip through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a show of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the initial days were an exercise in satisfying a at times unpredictable US leader. It was an recognition that the leader, with the signature of a hand, could impose tariffs and additional actions that have the ability to damage the economies of export-dependent nations.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the last day, though, was a distinct situation.

It was a encounter of equals on the global stage, where the consequences for the two powers – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were enormous.

With the Chinese, Trump may use his power, but such actions entail repercussions. They carry a price.

• Trump describes 'amazing' talks with Xi but no pact finalized
• Xi and the US leader establish temporary truce as China plays longer game

For the first four days, Trump's recent foray into global diplomacy was uneventful.

Each visit was punctuated by a mix of conventional commercial discussions – agreements made under the threat of the president's "mutual" duties – and individual concessions that at points approached the obsequious.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained rights to essential resources and made headway toward completing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a treaty that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the American president loves to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a Tokyo Tower displayed American colors – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Prime Minister the Japanese leader described $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the United States and presented the US leader a present of 250 sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and bag that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed former prime minister who developed ties with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the newest international head to nominate the president for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, the Korean government welcomed Trump with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that performed Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the Village People song that has evolved into a Trump rally theme.

Leader Lee held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he gave the US president his state's top honor and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with Lee included a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded baked goods. Later that day, the hosts provided the president vineyard wine at an intimate dinner in the president's recognition with half-dozen global figures attending the APEC meeting.

In the United States, the president may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" rallies by the public who disapprove of his boundary-testing increases of presidential power, but during his Asian visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of history, Trump came to South Korea requesting tribute – in the guise of $200 billion in financial transfers, $20 billion a per year, from South Korea to the US, to be used at the direction of Trump's government. Approval on the conditions of those payments contributed to that the tariff rate on Korean products to the US would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of the president's regional visit came in its concluding phase, though, as he encountered Xi.

There, the power dynamic between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was decidedly different than the interactions the president had with his international peers in prior visits.

Not present were all the ceremony and the display. Without any military bands, without protocol units, missing carefully crafted meal plans marking mutual national affection. Rather, the both heads and their key staff positioned themselves across a large pale meeting furniture in a nondescript armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the southern port's international airport.

It was possibly a reflection of the major consequences that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in the southern port, he appeared