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US presidential trips internationally have traditionally been an chance to demonstrate the strength of the American nation on the international platform. Trump's five-day tour through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a display of the clout of the president – but also, at times, of that power's constraints.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the initial days were an demonstration in catering to a at times volatile American president. It was an admission that the president, with the stroke of a pen, could introduce duties and additional actions that have the capacity to damage the economies of trade-reliant states.

His discussion with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the last day, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of peers on the international scene, where the consequences for both nations – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their citizens – were enormous.

With the Chinese, the president may wave his pen, but those steps involve ramifications. They carry a cost.

• Trump describes 'impressive' encounter with the Chinese leader but no agreement agreed
• The Chinese president and the US leader reach short-term ceasefire as Beijing pursues extended strategy

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

Each stop was punctuated by a combination of standard commercial discussions – deals made under the threat of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the obsequious.

In Malaysia, Trump gained access to key materials and made progress toward concluding trade arrangements with regional partners. He also presided over a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace agreement" the American president prefers to tout.

In Japan, Trump's official aircraft soared near a famous structure lit red, white and blue – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Prime Minister Takaichi described $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and presented the president a present of two hundred fifty cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the killed former prime minister who connected with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the most recent overseas counterpart to suggest Trump for his highly-coveted peace award.

Keeping pace, Korea greeted Trump with guns discharging a honor salute and a military band that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the band song that has evolved into a Trump rally anthem.

President Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the president his country's highest medal and a model of an historical royal headpiece.

Noon repast with the Korean leader included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans served Trump premium vintage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honor with half-dozen global figures present at the regional summit meeting.

In the United States, Trump may be the target of "No Kings" protests by the public who disapprove of his limit-pushing expansions of presidential power, but during his East Asia visit he was received as nobility.

And like the rulers of history, the president arrived in Korea seeking contribution – in the guise of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a annually, from Korea to the America, to be used at the discretion of Trump's government. Consent on the conditions of those payments helped ensure that the duty level on Korean products to the United States would fall from 25% to fifteen percent.

The main event of Trump's regional visit took place in its final hours, however, as he sat down with Xi.

In that setting, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was decidedly different than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the pageantry. Without any service ensembles, without protocol units, no meticulously designed dining selections marking bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides were seated across a long white discussion surface in a nondescript military building just off the runway of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the major consequences that when Trump shook hands with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he appeared