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American leader visits abroad have traditionally been an chance to demonstrate the influence of the United States on the international platform. Trump's week-long trip through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a display of the authority of the leader – but also, at points, of that authority's constraints.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the first four days were an demonstration in pleasing a at times unpredictable US leader. It was an recognition that Trump, with the stroke of a pen, could introduce duties and other measures that have the potential to damage the financial systems of trade-reliant countries.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on the final day, though, was something entirely different.

It was a encounter of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for both nations – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the welfare of their citizens – were enormous.

With Beijing, the US leader may flick his authority, but those steps involve ramifications. They come with a cost.

• The US president describes 'remarkable' talks with the Chinese leader but no trade deal agreed
• Xi and the US leader reach temporary truce as China adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, Trump's recent venture into world politics was uneventful.

Each destination was marked by a mix of traditional trade negotiations – deals made under the pressure of the president's "mutual" duties – and personal accommodations that at points bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to key materials and made progress toward completing commercial deals with regional partners. He also presided over a treaty that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower illuminated US flag colors – with a top in golden.

Recently chosen Leader the Japanese leader detailed $550 billion in Japanese investments in the US and gave the president a present of two hundred fifty sakura trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and case that came from Shinzo Abe, the murdered past head who connected with the president in his first term.

She also became the latest overseas counterpart to propose Trump for his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.

Matching the effort, the Korean government welcomed Trump with artillery discharging a honor salute and a military band that performed the leader's song and the classic tune – the band song that has become a presidential event theme.

Head Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he awarded the American leader his state's top honor and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with Lee contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gilded brownies. Afterward, the South Koreans offered the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in the president's recognition with six global figures participating in the regional summit summit.

In the US, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by the public who oppose his boundary-testing increases of presidential power, but during his regional visit he was received as royalty.

And like the rulers of history, the president came to Korea seeking payment – in the form of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $20 billion a year, from South Korea to the United States, to be invested at the guidance of Trump's leadership. Approval on the conditions of those transfers assisted in that the duty level on South Korean goods to the US would fall from twenty-five percent to fifteen percent.

The main event of the president's Asian tour occurred in its last moments, though, as he encountered Xi.

At that location, the authority balance between counterparts of the world's two largest economies was markedly divergent than the exchanges Trump had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Missing were all the pageantry and the spectacle. Lacking armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, without thoughtfully prepared dining selections marking mutual national affection. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors were seated across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a unremarkable service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's global terminal.

It was likely a indication of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed