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American leader visits internationally have historically been an occasion to display the power of the US on the international platform. Trump's multi-day swing through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the power of the president – but also, at moments, of that power's limitations.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes volatile US leader. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a document, could impose taxes and additional actions that have the potential to devastate the markets of export-oriented states.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of peers on the world platform, where the stakes for both nations – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their populations – were immense.

With Beijing, the president may flick his authority, but these moves involve ramifications. They carry a toll.

• The US president praises 'amazing' meeting with the Chinese leader but no agreement agreed
• The Chinese president and Trump establish short-term ceasefire as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the initial phase, the president's most recent entry into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each visit was marked by a mix of conventional trade negotiations – agreements made under the pressure of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and personal accommodations that at times bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained access to essential resources and made progress toward concluding economic agreements with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should alleviate border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the US leader loves to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One flew past a landmark tower illuminated American colors – with a peak in golden.

Freshly appointed Prime Minister Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the America and presented the American president a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that belonged to the late leader, the killed ex-leader who bonded with the president in his previous administration.

She also became the newest international head to nominate Trump for his long-sought international honor.

Not to be outdone, Korea received Trump with artillery firing a honor salute and a armed forces orchestra that rendered the leader's song and YMCA – the musical group tune that has turned into a political gathering theme.

Head Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he awarded the US president his state's premier award and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with the Korean leader included a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Afterward, the South Koreans provided the president premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in the president's recognition with half-dozen global figures present at the APEC meeting.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "No Kings" demonstrations by Americans who reject his boundary-testing extensions of presidential power, but during his East Asia tour he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of history, the president arrived in South Korea demanding contribution – in the shape of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a year, from the host nation to the US, to be used at the direction of the president's administration. Consent on the conditions of those payments contributed to that the tariff rate on Korean products to the US would drop from 25% to 15%.

The primary focus of Trump's regional visit came in its final hours, nevertheless, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

At that location, the authority balance between heads of the world's two largest economies was markedly divergent than the interactions Trump had with his international peers in previous days.

Not present were all the pageantry and the pageantry. Without any military bands, without ceremonial troops, no meticulously designed menus marking bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their senior advisors sat across a large pale negotiating table in a plain service structure just off the runway of Busan's global terminal.

It was likely a reflection of the significant risks that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in the southern port, he appeared