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American leader visits overseas have typically been an occasion to showcase the strength of the American nation on the world stage. Donald Trump's week-long tour through eastern Asia, on the other hand, has been a show of the power of the president – but also, at moments, of that influence's limitations.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the opening phase were an demonstration in satisfying a occasionally mercurial president. It was an recognition that the president, with the signature of a pen, could impose duties and additional actions that have the capacity to damage the financial systems of export-oriented countries.

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

It was a session of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for the two powers – for their markets, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were immense.

With Beijing, the president may flick his power, but those steps entail ramifications. They carry a toll.

• The US president hails 'amazing' meeting with Xi but no agreement finalized
• The Chinese president and the US leader reach temporary truce as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the initial phase, Trump's recent foray into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each stop was punctuated by a blend of conventional economic talks – arrangements made under the threat of Trump's "mutual" taxes – and personal accommodations that at moments verged on the deferential.

In Malaysia, Trump gained rights to key materials and made progress toward completing economic agreements with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the US leader enjoys to highlight.

In Japan, the president's helicopter soared near a famous structure displayed US flag colors – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Head Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the US and gave the American president a gift of a quarter-thousand sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a sports gear and carrier that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the killed past head who connected with Trump in his first term.

She also became the latest overseas counterpart to propose Trump for his much-desired peace award.

Keeping pace, Korea greeted Trump with guns discharging a honor salute and a service ensemble that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the musical group anthem that has turned into a political gathering anthem.

Leader the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he gave the US president his country's top honor and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with Lee included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Afterward, the South Koreans served the president premium vintage at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with six global figures present at the regional summit conference.

In the United States, Trump may be the target of "No Kings" protests by Americans who oppose his boundary-testing expansions of presidential power, but during his Asian swing he was treated like monarchy.

And like the kings of old, the president arrived in Korea requesting contribution – in the form of $200 billion in financial transfers, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the US, to be invested at the direction of the president's administration. Consent on the conditions of those contributions contributed to that the tax percentage on South Korean exports to the United States would fall from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The main event of Trump's Asian tour took place in its final hours, however, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

At that location, the power dynamic between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably different than the exchanges Trump had with his international peers in earlier stops.

Missing were all the ceremony and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, without ceremonial troops, no thoughtfully prepared menus marking shared goodwill. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors were seated across a long white negotiating table in a plain armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a reflection of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked