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American leader visits overseas have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the power of the United States on the global scene. Trump's five-day swing through East Asia, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the power of the leader – but also, at times, of that power's constraints.

The president's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the first four days were an demonstration in catering to a at times mercurial American president. It was an recognition that the leader, with the stroke of a pen, could introduce taxes and other measures that have the capacity to devastate the economies of export-dependent nations.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on the last day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a session of peers on the world platform, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their citizens – were immense.

With the Chinese, the US leader may flick his authority, but such actions come with repercussions. They involve a price.

• The US president describes 'remarkable' talks with the Chinese leader but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and Trump establish short-term ceasefire as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, Trump's most recent foray into world politics was successful.

Each visit was characterized by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – agreements made under the threat of the president's "equivalent" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at times approached the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to key materials and made headway toward completing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also presided over a pact that should reduce border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter flew past a famous structure lit US flag colors – with a summit in gilded.

Freshly appointed Head Takaichi described $half-trillion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and presented the US leader a gift of 250 flowering trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and carrier that was owned by former Prime Minister Abe, the killed past head who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

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

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed the president with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that played the leader's song and the Village People song – the band tune that has turned into a political gathering anthem.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he presented the American leader his country's premier award and a model of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with Lee included a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded chocolate squares. Afterward, the Koreans provided Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honor with multiple international heads present at the regional summit summit.

In the United States, the president may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" rallies by Americans who oppose his authority-expanding increases of presidential power, but during his East Asia visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the kings of old, the president arrived in South Korea requesting tribute – in the guise of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $20 billion a year, from the host nation to the US, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's government. Consent on the conditions of those transfers contributed to that the duty level on host nation exports to the America would fall from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The central moment of the president's Asia trip occurred in its last moments, however, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

At that location, the authority balance between heads of the world's two largest economies was decidedly distinct than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in prior visits.

Absent were typical ceremony and the spectacle. No service ensembles, absent honour guards, without meticulously designed meal plans honoring bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides were seated across a long white discussion surface in a plain armed forces facility just off the runway of the southern port's international airport.

It was possibly a demonstration of the high stakes that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in Busan, he looked