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Presidential journeys overseas have traditionally been an opportunity to showcase the strength of the United States on the world stage. The president's week-long swing through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a display of the authority of the president – but also, at points, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the initial days were an exercise in satisfying a sometimes volatile US leader. It was an recognition that Trump, with the flick of a hand, could enact taxes and other measures that have the potential to devastate the financial systems of export-dependent states.

His sit-down with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on the last day, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a encounter of peers on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their people – were immense.

With China, the US leader may use his pen, but those steps entail ramifications. They involve a toll.

• Trump describes 'impressive' talks with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and Trump reach brief pause as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, the president's most recent entry into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each stop was punctuated by a mix of conventional trade negotiations – agreements made under the threat of Trump's "reciprocal" duties – and personal accommodations that at moments verged on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained rights to key materials and made progress toward concluding economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also presided over a agreement that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the US leader enjoys to highlight.

In Japan, Trump's official aircraft soared near a famous structure illuminated American colors – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Leader Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the United States and gave the US leader a gift of two hundred fifty cherry trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf club and bag that was owned by former Prime Minister Abe, the murdered past head who bonded with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the newest overseas counterpart to propose the president for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, Korea welcomed the president with cannons performing a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that played the leader's song and the classic tune – the Village People song that has become a Trump rally theme.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he gave the American leader his country's highest medal and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with the Korean leader included a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Subsequently, the South Koreans offered Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in Trump's honor with multiple international heads participating in the APEC conference.

In the America, the president may be the focus of "No Kings" protests by Americans who disapprove of his authority-expanding increases of presidential power, but during his regional swing he was handled as nobility.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump arrived in the Korean nation requesting tribute – in the guise of $200bn in financial transfers, $twenty billion a annually, from the host nation to the US, to be allocated at the discretion of the president's administration. Consent on the details of those transfers assisted in that the tax percentage on Korean products to the America would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The central moment of Trump's regional visit took place in its last moments, though, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

At that location, the influence relationship between counterparts of the global top two markets was decidedly divergent than the interactions Trump had with his overseas colleagues in prior visits.

Absent were typical pageantry and the display. Lacking armed forces orchestras, no ceremonial troops, without carefully crafted menus marking mutual national affection. By contrast, the two leaders and their senior advisors were seated across a large pale discussion surface in a unremarkable armed forces facility just off the runway of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a reflection of the significant risks that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in Busan, he appeared