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American leader visits overseas have typically been an opportunity to showcase the strength of the US on the international platform. Donald Trump's five-day swing through Asian nations, on the other hand, has been a display of the clout of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the opening phase were an exercise in pleasing a sometimes unpredictable president. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a hand, could impose taxes and further steps that have the ability to damage the economies of export-oriented countries.

His sit-down with China's president Xi on Thursday, however, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of equals on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their populations – were immense.

With China, Trump may flick his authority, but these moves come with repercussions. They carry a cost.

• Trump hails 'impressive' talks with the Chinese leader but no pact finalized
• Xi and the US leader establish short-term ceasefire as China pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, Trump's most recent foray into world politics was successful.

Each destination was punctuated by a combination of standard economic talks – deals made under the pressure of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to essential resources and made advances toward finalizing commercial deals with south-east Asian nations. He also led a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the US leader loves to tout.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One passed by a famous structure displayed American colors – with a peak in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Prime Minister Takaichi described $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the America and offered the US leader a gift of 250 sakura trees for America's 250th birthday, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the killed former prime minister who bonded with Trump in his first term.

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

Matching the effort, South Korea received Trump with artillery firing a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that played the leader's song and YMCA – the band song that has evolved into a presidential event theme.

President the Korean president held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he presented the American leader his nation's top honor and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with the Korean leader included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted brownies. Later that day, the South Koreans provided Trump premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's recognition with half-dozen global figures participating in the regional summit conference.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by the public who oppose his limit-pushing increases of leader's control, but during his regional swing he was treated like nobility.

And like the kings of history, the president visited Korea requesting tribute – in the guise of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a year, from Korea to the United States, to be invested at the direction of Trump's government. Consent on the details of those contributions assisted in that the tax percentage on South Korean goods to the US would fall from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The central moment of the president's Asia trip came in its final hours, however, as he met with Xi.

There, the power dynamic between leaders of the global top two markets was decidedly different than the exchanges the president had with his international peers in prior visits.

Missing were the usual pageantry and the display. No military bands, absent protocol units, no meticulously designed meal plans marking bilateral friendship. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors sat across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a unremarkable military building just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's air transport hub.

It was perhaps a indication of the significant risks that when Trump made contact with Xi in the southern port, he looked