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Presidential journeys abroad have historically been an opportunity to showcase the influence of the American nation on the international platform. The president's multi-day trip through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a show of the clout of Trump – but also, at times, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the initial days were an display in satisfying a sometimes volatile American president. It was an recognition that the president, with the stroke of a document, could impose taxes and additional actions that have the ability to devastate the financial systems of trade-reliant countries.

His discussion with China's president Xi on Thursday, however, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of equals on the international scene, where the stakes for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their citizens – were significant.

With Beijing, the US leader may use his pen, but these moves entail consequences. They involve a price.

• The US president hails 'impressive' meeting with Xi but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader find brief pause as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, the president's most recent entry into international relations was uneventful.

Each destination was marked by a blend of standard trade negotiations – agreements made under the pressure of Trump's "equivalent" taxes – and special treatment that at times approached the obsequious.

In Malaysia, the president secured rights to essential resources and made progress toward concluding commercial deals with regional partners. He also presided over a treaty that should ease territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the US leader loves to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a famous structure lit American colors – with a summit in gilded.

Newly elected Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the American president a gift of 250 flowering trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and case that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the murdered past head who connected with the president in his first term.

She also became the latest overseas counterpart to propose the president for his long-sought peace award.

Keeping pace, South Korea greeted the president with cannons discharging a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that performed Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the band anthem that has become a political gathering theme.

Leader the Korean president held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the US president his state's top honor and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with Lee included a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-covered baked goods. Subsequently, the South Koreans offered Trump premium vintage at an private meal in Trump's recognition with half-dozen global figures participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the US, the president may be the subject of "No Kings" demonstrations by the public who reject his limit-pushing expansions of presidential power, but during his regional tour he was handled as royalty.

And like the kings of history, Trump arrived in the Korean nation requesting tribute – in the guise of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $20bn a year, from Korea to the US, to be used at the guidance of the president's government. Consent on the terms of those contributions helped ensure that the tariff rate on host nation goods to the US would decrease from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The main event of the president's Asia trip came in its final hours, nevertheless, as he met with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the influence relationship between counterparts of the global top two markets was markedly divergent than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in earlier stops.

Not present were typical pageantry and the spectacle. Without any service ensembles, absent honour guards, without thoughtfully prepared menus marking bilateral friendship. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their top aides were seated across a large pale negotiating table in a unremarkable armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was possibly a reflection of the major consequences that when the president shook hands with Xi in the Korean city, he looked