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US presidential trips abroad have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the influence of the American nation on the global scene. Trump's five-day tour through eastern Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that influence's boundaries.

The president's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the initial days were an demonstration in pleasing a occasionally unpredictable president. It was an admission that the president, with the stroke of a pen, could enact taxes and other measures that have the capacity to damage the financial systems of export-dependent nations.

His discussion with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, though, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the world platform, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their global standing, for the welfare of their people – were significant.

With China, the US leader may wave his power, but such actions entail consequences. They come with a price.

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

Each visit was characterized by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – deals made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" taxes – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, the president secured access to key materials and made headway toward concluding commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a agreement that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the president loves to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's Marine One soared near a landmark tower illuminated US flag colors – with a summit in golden.

Freshly appointed Leader the Japanese leader detailed $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the America and gave the president a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and bag that came from the late leader, the killed former prime minister who developed ties with the president in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest foreign leader to propose the president for his long-sought international honor.

Keeping pace, the Korean government welcomed the president with cannons firing a honor salute and a armed forces orchestra that played the leader's song and YMCA – the Village People song that has evolved into a Trump rally theme.

Leader the Korean president held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he awarded the president his country's highest medal and a model of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with Lee included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted brownies. Later that day, the hosts offered Trump fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's honor with half-dozen international heads attending the APEC meeting.

In the US, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by Americans who oppose his authority-expanding increases of presidential power, but during his Asian visit he was treated like monarchy.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump visited Korea seeking contribution – in the shape of $200bn in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a annually, from Korea to the America, to be used at the direction of the president's leadership. Approval on the details of those payments assisted in that the tax percentage on host nation products to the US would drop from 25% to 15%.

The central moment of the president's Asian tour took place in its final hours, however, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly divergent than the meetings the president had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Missing were the usual pomp and the spectacle. Without any service ensembles, without ceremonial troops, without thoughtfully prepared meal plans honoring bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides were seated across a large pale negotiating table in a plain armed forces facility just off the runway of Busan's international airport.

It was likely a indication of the major consequences that when the president shook hands with Xi in the Korean city, he appeared