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Presidential journeys abroad have typically been an chance to showcase the power of the United States on the international platform. The president's five-day swing through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a display of the power of the president – but also, at points, of that authority's constraints.

The president's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes mercurial American president. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a pen, could introduce taxes and further steps that have the potential to harm the financial systems of export-dependent countries.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on Thursday, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of counterparts on the world platform, where the consequences for both nations – for their markets, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their populations – were immense.

With China, the US leader may wave his pen, but these moves come with ramifications. They involve a price.

• Trump hails 'impressive' meeting with the Chinese leader but no pact finalized
• The Chinese president and the US leader reach brief pause as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, the president's recent venture into world politics was uneventful.

Each stop was punctuated by a blend of conventional trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of Trump's "mutual" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained access to essential resources and made progress toward completing economic agreements with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the American president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft flew past a landmark tower illuminated US flag colors – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Head the Japanese leader described $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the American president a offering of 250 flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf club and carrier that came from Shinzo Abe, the assassinated ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the newest overseas counterpart to suggest the president for his much-desired international honor.

Matching the effort, the Korean government welcomed the president with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the musical group anthem that has evolved into a Trump rally theme.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he awarded the US president his country's highest medal and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with the Korean leader contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered baked goods. Subsequently, the Koreans offered Trump fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in the president's honor with six world leaders attending the APEC meeting.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by Americans who disapprove of his authority-expanding expansions of executive authority, but during his regional visit he was treated like monarchy.

And like the rulers of old, the president visited Korea requesting payment – in the guise of $200 billion in cash payments, $20 billion a per year, from Korea to the United States, to be used at the discretion of the president's administration. Approval on the conditions of those contributions contributed to that the duty level on South Korean exports to the United States would decrease from 25% to fifteen percent.

The central moment of Trump's Asia trip occurred in its final hours, though, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the power dynamic between leaders of the global top two markets was markedly different than the interactions the president had with his international peers in previous days.

Not present were the usual ceremony and the pageantry. Lacking military bands, absent ceremonial troops, without meticulously designed menus celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the both heads and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a unremarkable service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was likely a demonstration of the significant risks that when Trump shook hands with Xi in Busan, he appeared