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American leader visits overseas have traditionally been an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the United States on the world stage. Donald Trump's five-day tour through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a display of the power of Trump – but also, at times, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the initial days were an display in pleasing a occasionally mercurial American president. It was an admission that the leader, with the signature of a document, could enact taxes and additional actions that have the capacity to devastate the economies of export-oriented countries.

His discussion with China's president Xi Jinping on the last day, though, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for each country – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their populations – were enormous.

With Beijing, the president may use his authority, but these moves entail ramifications. They come with a toll.

• The US president hails 'remarkable' encounter with Xi but no pact finalized
• The Chinese president and Trump find brief pause as China adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, Trump's latest entry into international relations was smooth sailing.

Each visit was punctuated by a mix of traditional commercial discussions – agreements made under the threat of Trump's "mutual" taxes – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the subservient.

In Malaysia, the president obtained access to key materials and made headway toward concluding trade arrangements with regional partners. He also oversaw a agreement that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the American president loves to promote.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One flew past a famous structure illuminated US flag colors – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Leader the Japanese leader outlined $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and gave the US leader a gift of 250 cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the murdered past head who developed ties with Trump in his first term.

She also became the most recent foreign leader to suggest the president for his highly-coveted peace award.

Matching the effort, the Korean government greeted Trump with cannons firing a 21-gun salute and a military band that performed the presidential anthem and YMCA – the band anthem that has evolved into a presidential event theme.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for the US leader during which he awarded the president his country's premier award and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gilded baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans served Trump premium vintage at an intimate dinner in Trump's recognition with multiple global figures participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meeting.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" rallies by US citizens who disapprove of his authority-expanding extensions of executive authority, but during his East Asia tour he was handled as royalty.

And like the monarchs of history, Trump arrived in South Korea seeking payment – in the guise of $200bn in cash payments, $20bn a annually, from South Korea to the America, to be invested at the guidance of Trump's leadership. Approval on the details of those payments assisted in that the tax percentage on Korean exports to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's regional visit occurred in its final hours, though, as he met with Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between heads of the global top two markets was decidedly distinct than the exchanges Trump had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Missing were typical pomp and the pageantry. Lacking service ensembles, absent ceremonial troops, without meticulously designed menus marking shared goodwill. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their key staff were seated across a long white discussion surface in a nondescript military building just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was possibly a reflection of the significant risks that when Trump made contact with the Chinese leader in the southern port, he looked