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American leader visits abroad have historically been an chance to display the power of the United States on the international platform. Donald Trump's multi-day tour through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the clout of the president – but also, at points, of that power's constraints.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the first four days were an demonstration in satisfying a at times volatile US leader. It was an acknowledgement that the president, with the flick of a pen, could enact tariffs and other measures that have the potential to damage the financial systems of trade-reliant states.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on the final day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a encounter of counterparts on the international scene, where the risks for the two powers – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their people – were immense.

With China, the US leader may wave his pen, but those steps come with repercussions. They come with a price.

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For the opening segment, the president's most recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each destination was marked by a mix of conventional commercial discussions – arrangements made under the pressure of Trump's "equivalent" duties – and personal accommodations that at points bordered on the obsequious.

In Malaysia, Trump secured entry to key materials and made advances toward finalizing trade arrangements with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the president enjoys to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's Marine One passed by a landmark tower displayed US flag colors – with a top in golden.

Freshly appointed Leader the Japanese leader detailed $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the American president a offering of a quarter-thousand sakura trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that belonged to the late leader, the murdered former prime minister who connected with the president in his first term.

She also became the latest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his much-desired peace award.

Keeping pace, the Korean government welcomed Trump with artillery firing a 21-gun salute and a military band that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the musical group song that has become a Trump rally theme.

Head Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his state's top honor and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with the Korean leader included a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gilded chocolate squares. Later that day, the Koreans served Trump vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in the president's honour with half-dozen global figures attending the regional summit conference.

In the United States, the president may be the target of "No Kings" protests by Americans who disapprove of his limit-pushing expansions of leader's control, but during his East Asia swing he was received as monarchy.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump arrived in South Korea demanding contribution – in the guise of $200bn in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a annually, from the host nation to the America, to be invested at the direction of Trump's leadership. Consent on the details of those payments assisted in that the tariff rate on host nation goods to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The main event of the president's Asia trip took place in its final hours, nevertheless, as he encountered Xi.

There, the power dynamic between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly divergent than the meetings Trump had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Not present were all the pomp and the display. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent protocol units, without carefully crafted dining selections celebrating mutual national affection. By contrast, the two leaders and their key staff sat across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a plain service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was perhaps a indication of the major consequences that when Trump made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he appeared