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US presidential trips internationally have traditionally been an occasion to display the strength of the United States on the world stage. Donald Trump's five-day tour through Asian nations, conversely, has been a demonstration of the clout of the president – but also, at points, of that authority's boundaries.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the initial days were an display in pleasing a at times volatile US leader. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a hand, could introduce taxes and other measures that have the ability to devastate the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on the last day, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of peers on the international scene, where the stakes for the two powers – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the welfare of their populations – were enormous.

With the Chinese, Trump may wave his authority, but these moves come with ramifications. They involve a toll.

• The US president describes 'impressive' talks with the Chinese leader but no trade deal finalized
• Xi and the US leader establish temporary truce as China pursues extended strategy

For the initial phase, the president's recent venture into world politics was uneventful.

Each visit was characterized by a mix of standard commercial discussions – deals made under the shadow of Trump's "equivalent" duties – and special treatment that at points bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained access to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing economic agreements with regional partners. He also presided over a treaty that should reduce frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the US leader prefers to highlight.

In Japan, the president's helicopter passed by a Tokyo Tower displayed US flag colors – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Head the Japanese leader outlined $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and presented the president a offering of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and case that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated past head who developed ties with Trump in his previous administration.

She also became the newest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, Korea greeted the president with artillery discharging a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that rendered the leader's song and the classic tune – the band song that has turned into a Trump rally standard.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "award event" for Trump during which he gave the American leader his country's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with Lee featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Subsequently, the South Koreans served Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's recognition with half-dozen global figures participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference conference.

In the US, the president may be the subject of "No Kings" demonstrations by the public who reject his authority-expanding expansions of leader's control, but during his Asian visit he was received as nobility.

And like the kings of ancient times, the president visited the Korean nation requesting payment – in the guise of $200bn in financial transfers, $20 billion a year, from the host nation to the United States, to be used at the direction of the president's administration. Consent on the conditions of those payments assisted in that the duty level on South Korean exports to the US would fall from 25% to fifteen percent.

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

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the planet's biggest economic powers was decidedly distinct than the exchanges Trump had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Missing were the usual pomp and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, absent ceremonial troops, without carefully crafted dining selections honoring mutual national affection. By contrast, the two leaders and their key staff sat across a large pale meeting furniture in a nondescript military building just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a indication of the high stakes that when the president made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he looked