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American leader visits internationally have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the power of the United States on the global scene. Trump's multi-day swing through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's constraints.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the opening phase were an demonstration in satisfying a occasionally mercurial president. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a document, could introduce duties and further steps that have the potential to harm the financial systems of export-dependent states.

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

It was a meeting of peers on the global stage, where the stakes for each country – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the welfare of their populations – were enormous.

With China, Trump may flick his power, but these moves come with repercussions. They involve a price.

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For the initial phase, Trump's latest foray into international relations was successful.

Each stop was marked by a blend of conventional commercial discussions – arrangements made under the threat of Trump's "mutual" taxes – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained entry to critical minerals and made progress toward concluding economic agreements with regional partners. He also presided over a pact that should alleviate border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace deal" the president prefers to promote.

In Japan, the president's helicopter passed by a famous structure displayed red, white and blue – with a peak in golden.

Freshly appointed Head Sanai Takaichi outlined $550bn in Japanese investments in the America and presented the American president a offering of 250 sakura trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and carrier that was owned by former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who developed ties with the president in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest international head to nominate the president for his long-sought peace award.

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed the president with cannons discharging a 21-gun salute and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the Village People tune that has turned into a Trump rally theme.

President Lee held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he awarded the American leader his country's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with Lee included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gilded chocolate squares. Afterward, the South Koreans provided the president vineyard wine at an private meal in the president's honour with six international heads participating in the APEC conference.

In the United States, the president may be the target of "No Kings" rallies by US citizens who oppose his authority-expanding extensions of leader's control, but during his East Asia visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump came to South Korea requesting payment – in the form of $200bn in financial transfers, $20bn a year, from Korea to the America, to be invested at the discretion of the president's leadership. Consent on the conditions of those payments helped ensure that the tariff rate on South Korean products to the United States would decrease from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The central moment of Trump's Asia trip came in its final hours, though, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the authority balance between leaders of the global top two markets was decidedly different than the exchanges Trump had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Missing were the usual pomp and the display. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent protocol units, no meticulously designed menus celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the two leaders and their key staff sat across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript armed forces facility just off the runway of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was perhaps a indication of the major consequences that when Trump exchanged greetings with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked