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American leader visits internationally have typically been an occasion to display the influence of the US on the international platform. Trump's week-long trip through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the authority of the president – but also, at moments, of that influence's boundaries.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the first four days were an exercise in pleasing a sometimes volatile US leader. It was an admission that the president, with the signature of a pen, could introduce duties and further steps that have the capacity to damage the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi on the last day, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the world platform, where the risks for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their populations – were immense.

With the Chinese, the president may wave his pen, but such actions come with repercussions. They involve a price.

• The US president praises 'impressive' encounter with Xi but no agreement agreed
• The Chinese president and the US leader find short-term ceasefire as China pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, Trump's recent venture into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each visit was punctuated by a combination of conventional economic talks – agreements made under the shadow of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times approached the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained entry to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a agreement that should ease frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the US leader loves to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft soared near a famous structure displayed American colors – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Leader Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the America and offered the president a offering of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf club and carrier that was owned by the late leader, the assassinated former prime minister who connected with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the newest international head to propose Trump for his highly-coveted peace award.

Keeping pace, the Korean government welcomed Trump with cannons performing a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that performed Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the Village People tune that has become a Trump rally anthem.

Head Lee held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the American leader his country's highest medal and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with the Korean leader included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered brownies. Afterward, the hosts offered Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honor with half-dozen international heads participating in the regional summit meeting.

In the US, the president may be the target of "No Kings" rallies by US citizens who reject his limit-pushing expansions of presidential power, but during his Asian visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, Trump visited South Korea requesting contribution – in the form of $200 billion in cash payments, $20bn a year, from the host nation to the US, to be used at the discretion of Trump's administration. Agreement on the terms of those contributions contributed to that the tariff rate on Korean products to the US would decrease from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of Trump's regional visit came in its concluding phase, though, as he met with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the authority balance between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was noticeably divergent than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in prior visits.

Not present were the usual ceremony and the spectacle. No military bands, without protocol units, without carefully crafted menus marking mutual national affection. Rather, the both heads and their top aides positioned themselves across a extended light-colored discussion surface in a plain military building just near the airstrip of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was likely a indication of the high stakes that when Trump made contact with the Chinese leader in Busan, he appeared