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US presidential trips overseas have typically been an chance to display the power of the US on the international platform. The president's five-day tour through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that power's boundaries.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the opening phase were an demonstration in catering to a occasionally volatile US leader. It was an admission that the leader, with the signature of a pen, could impose tariffs and other measures that have the capacity to devastate the economies of trade-reliant nations.

His meeting with China's president Xi on the last day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a session of peers on the global stage, where the consequences for both nations – for their financial health, for their global standing, for the welfare of their people – were enormous.

With China, Trump may wave his authority, but such actions involve repercussions. They carry a cost.

• The US president praises 'remarkable' meeting with the Chinese leader but no pact agreed
• The Chinese president and the US leader find temporary truce as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, Trump's most recent foray into global diplomacy was successful.

Each visit was characterized by a blend of conventional economic talks – deals made under the pressure of Trump's "equivalent" taxes – and individual concessions that at times approached the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained entry to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also presided over a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the American president prefers to tout.

In Japan, the president's official aircraft soared near a landmark tower displayed American colors – with a summit in gilded.

Newly elected Leader the Japanese leader described $550bn in Japan's financial commitments in the America and gave the president a offering of two hundred fifty sakura trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and case that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the assassinated ex-leader who developed ties with Trump in his first term.

She also became the newest overseas counterpart to nominate Trump for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted the president with artillery firing a traditional greeting and a military band that played the leader's song and the Village People song – the band anthem that has evolved into a presidential event anthem.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the president his state's highest medal and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with Lee featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Later that day, the Koreans served the president fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honour with six world leaders attending the APEC conference.

In the US, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by Americans who oppose his boundary-testing increases of presidential power, but during his regional tour he was received as monarchy.

And like the rulers of old, Trump visited South Korea demanding tribute – in the guise of $200bn in cash payments, $20 billion a per year, from South Korea to the United States, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's government. Approval on the terms of those payments helped ensure that the duty level on host nation exports to the America would drop from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The main event of Trump's Asian tour occurred in its final hours, however, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between counterparts of the global top two markets was markedly distinct than the exchanges Trump had with his international peers in prior visits.

Not present were all the pageantry and the pageantry. No armed forces orchestras, absent protocol units, missing thoughtfully prepared meal plans celebrating mutual national affection. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white negotiating table in a unremarkable service structure just off the runway of the southern port's international airport.

It was likely a indication of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with Xi in the southern port, he seemed