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Presidential journeys internationally have typically been an chance to showcase the power of the United States on the world stage. The president's five-day tour through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the power of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's limitations.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the opening phase were an demonstration in pleasing a occasionally unpredictable American president. It was an recognition that the leader, with the flick of a document, could impose duties and additional actions that have the capacity to damage the economies of export-dependent states.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of equals on the international scene, where the risks for each country – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the welfare of their citizens – were enormous.

With the Chinese, Trump may wave his pen, but such actions entail ramifications. They come with a toll.

• Trump hails 'impressive' talks with Xi but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader reach brief pause as Beijing plays longer game

For the initial phase, the president's most recent entry into world politics was uneventful.

Each stop was marked by a combination of standard trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of the president's "reciprocal" taxes – and individual concessions that at times approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president gained rights to key materials and made progress toward finalizing commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the American president enjoys to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter soared near a famous structure displayed American colors – with a top in gilded.

Newly elected Leader the Japanese leader detailed $half-trillion in Japanese investments in the America and gave the American president a gift of two hundred fifty sakura trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf club and bag that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the murdered former prime minister who bonded with the president in his first term.

She also became the most recent overseas counterpart to propose Trump for his much-desired peace award.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted the president with artillery firing a honor salute and a military band that played the presidential anthem and the classic tune – the musical group song that has turned into a political gathering anthem.

Head Lee held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he awarded the American leader his state's premier award and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Noon repast with the Korean leader contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Subsequently, the hosts provided the president vineyard wine at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with six world leaders participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meeting.

In the US, the president may be the target of "No Kings" protests by US citizens who oppose his boundary-testing extensions of leader's control, but during his East Asia swing he was handled as nobility.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump arrived in Korea seeking contribution – in the form of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a annually, from the host nation to the US, to be used at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Approval on the details of those contributions helped ensure that the tax percentage on South Korean goods to the US would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's regional visit took place in its concluding phase, nevertheless, as he met with Xi.

At that location, the power dynamic between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably divergent than the interactions the president had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Absent were the usual pomp and the pageantry. Lacking service ensembles, absent protocol units, without thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring bilateral friendship. Instead, the both heads and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white discussion surface in a unremarkable armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the southern port's international airport.

It was likely a reflection of the major consequences that when Trump shook hands with Xi in Busan, he seemed