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US presidential trips abroad have traditionally been an chance to showcase the influence of the US on the global scene. Trump's week-long tour through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a display of the power of the president – but also, at points, of that power's constraints.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the first four days were an display in pleasing a occasionally mercurial US leader. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a hand, could impose taxes and additional actions that have the capacity to harm the economies of trade-reliant nations.

His sit-down with Chinese leader Xi on the last day, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for both nations – for their markets, for their global standing, for the well-being of their populations – were significant.

With the Chinese, the president may use his power, but such actions come with repercussions. They carry a toll.

• The US president describes 'remarkable' encounter with the Chinese leader but no trade deal reached
• Xi and the US leader establish brief pause as China plays longer game

For the opening segment, the president's most recent venture into world politics was uneventful.

Each destination was marked by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – agreements made under the shadow of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and personal accommodations that at times bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, the president secured access to essential resources and made progress toward completing trade arrangements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a agreement that should reduce frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the American president prefers to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter soared near a famous structure lit US flag colors – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Leader Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and presented the US leader a present of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and carrier that came from the late leader, the murdered ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the latest foreign leader to nominate the president for his highly-coveted international honor.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted Trump with guns performing a honor salute and a service ensemble that performed Hail to the Chief and YMCA – the musical group song that has become a political gathering anthem.

Head the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he awarded the president his state's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with the Korean leader included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted brownies. Afterward, the South Koreans served the president fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six global figures participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" protests by the public who oppose his authority-expanding increases of presidential power, but during his Asian swing he was handled as nobility.

And like the kings of history, Trump came to Korea demanding payment – in the shape of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a annually, from Korea to the America, to be allocated at the direction of the president's leadership. Consent on the conditions of those contributions helped ensure that the duty level on host nation exports to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour took place in its concluding phase, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

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

Missing were typical pageantry and the pageantry. Lacking service ensembles, no honour guards, missing thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring bilateral friendship. Instead, the two leaders and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a nondescript armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of the southern port's global terminal.

It was perhaps a indication of the high stakes that when Trump shook hands with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked