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Presidential journeys abroad have historically been an opportunity to demonstrate the power of the US on the global scene. Donald Trump's week-long trip through Asian nations, on the other hand, has been a show of the clout of Trump – but also, at times, of that influence's constraints.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the first four days were an display in pleasing a at times mercurial president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the stroke of a pen, could enact duties and further steps that have the potential to harm the financial systems of export-oriented countries.

His sit-down with Chinese leader Xi on the last day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of peers on the international scene, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their global standing, for the prosperity of their citizens – were immense.

With the Chinese, the US leader may wave his authority, but such actions come with repercussions. They carry a toll.

• Trump praises 'impressive' encounter with the Chinese leader but no agreement reached
• Xi and the US leader establish short-term ceasefire as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the opening segment, Trump's recent entry into international relations was uneventful.

Each stop was marked by a combination of traditional commercial discussions – agreements made under the pressure of Trump's "mutual" taxes – and personal accommodations that at points approached the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained access to key materials and made progress toward finalizing trade arrangements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the president loves to tout.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One flew past a famous structure lit red, white and blue – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Newly elected Leader the Japanese leader outlined $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the US and gave the American president a present of 250 sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf club and carrier that came from Shinzo Abe, the murdered former prime minister who connected with the president in his first term.

She also became the most recent international head to nominate Trump for his highly-coveted international honor.

Keeping pace, Korea welcomed Trump with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the band anthem that has become a Trump rally standard.

Leader the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he presented the president his country's premier award and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with the Korean leader featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Afterward, the hosts offered the president vineyard wine at an private meal in the president's honour with six global figures present at the APEC summit.

In the America, the president may be the focus of "No Kings" rallies by Americans who reject his limit-pushing expansions of presidential power, but during his regional swing he was handled as royalty.

And like the kings of history, Trump came to South Korea seeking contribution – in the form of $200bn in cash payments, $20 billion a per year, from Korea to the US, to be invested at the direction of the president's leadership. Agreement on the terms of those contributions helped ensure that the duty level on Korean exports to the US would fall from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour occurred in its concluding phase, nevertheless, as he encountered Xi.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the planet's biggest economic powers was decidedly different than the exchanges the president had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Not present were typical pomp and the display. No military bands, without protocol units, missing carefully crafted dining selections honoring shared goodwill. Rather, the both heads and their key staff positioned themselves across a extended light-colored discussion surface in a plain service structure just off the runway of the city of Busan's global terminal.

It was perhaps a reflection of the major consequences that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he looked