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US presidential trips internationally have historically been an chance to showcase the influence of the United States on the global scene. Trump's week-long trip through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the clout of the president – but also, at points, of that power's constraints.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the initial days were an demonstration in pleasing a at times mercurial American president. It was an admission that Trump, with the signature of a hand, could introduce taxes and other measures that have the capacity to damage the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

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

It was a session of peers on the world platform, where the risks for each country – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the welfare of their citizens – were immense.

With China, the US leader may wave his authority, but those steps entail consequences. They come with a cost.

• The US president hails 'remarkable' talks with Xi but no trade deal finalized
• Xi and Trump find brief pause as China adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, Trump's recent entry into global diplomacy was uneventful.

Each stop was punctuated by a blend of traditional economic talks – arrangements made under the threat of the president's "reciprocal" duties – and personal accommodations that at moments verged on the subservient.

In Malaysia, Trump obtained entry to essential resources and made progress toward finalizing economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a agreement that should alleviate border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the president loves to tout.

In Japan, Trump's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower illuminated American colors – with a summit in gilded.

Recently chosen Head the Japanese leader described $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the US and gave the president a gift of two hundred fifty sakura trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by the late leader, the assassinated former prime minister who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the newest international head to propose Trump for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, Korea received the president with guns firing a honor salute and a military band that performed the presidential anthem and YMCA – the band song that has turned into a Trump rally standard.

Head Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he gave the president his state's top honor and a copy of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Subsequently, the South Koreans served the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in the president's honor with half-dozen global figures present at the regional summit conference.

In the America, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by the public who disapprove of his limit-pushing increases of presidential power, but during his East Asia visit he was handled as nobility.

And like the rulers of old, Trump visited South Korea demanding contribution – in the guise of $200 billion in financial transfers, $20bn a year, from South Korea to the United States, to be allocated at the direction of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the terms of those transfers contributed to that the tax percentage on Korean exports to the United States would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's Asia trip occurred in its last moments, however, as he met with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the influence relationship between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably distinct than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Absent were typical pomp and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, no protocol units, without carefully crafted menus celebrating bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides sat across a extended light-colored discussion surface in a nondescript military building just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's air transport hub.

It was possibly a demonstration of the significant risks that when the president made contact with Xi in Busan, he appeared