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US presidential trips internationally have traditionally been an chance to showcase the power of the United States on the international platform. Trump's week-long trip through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a display of the power of the president – but also, at times, of that authority's boundaries.

The president's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the first four days were an display in catering to a at times unpredictable US leader. It was an admission that the leader, with the signature of a document, could introduce duties and other measures that have the potential to devastate the financial systems of export-dependent nations.

His discussion with China's president Xi on the final day, though, was something entirely different.

It was a encounter of peers on the world platform, where the consequences for both nations – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their citizens – were enormous.

With China, Trump may flick his authority, but such actions involve ramifications. They carry a price.

• The US president describes 'impressive' talks with the Chinese leader but no agreement agreed
• Xi and Trump find short-term ceasefire as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the first four days, the president's recent foray into international relations was smooth sailing.

Each destination was characterized by a mix of traditional commercial discussions – agreements made under the pressure of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and special treatment that at moments verged on the obsequious.

In Malaysia, the president gained rights to essential resources and made advances toward completing trade arrangements with regional partners. He also presided over a treaty that should reduce frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the president loves to tout.

In Japan, the president's helicopter passed by a Tokyo Tower illuminated US flag colors – with a top in golden.

Freshly appointed Leader Sanai Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the United States and offered the American president a offering of 250 cherry trees for the United States' semiquincentennial, and a golf club and case that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the killed ex-leader who connected with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest international head to suggest Trump for his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.

Matching the effort, South Korea greeted the president with cannons discharging a traditional greeting and a military band that rendered the leader's song and the Village People song – the musical group tune that has evolved into a Trump rally theme.

Leader the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the American leader his state's top honor and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Afterward, the South Koreans offered Trump premium vintage at an private meal in Trump's honor with half-dozen international heads participating in the regional summit conference.

In the United States, the president may be the subject of "No Kings" demonstrations by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding expansions of presidential power, but during his Asian tour he was received as nobility.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, the president came to the Korean nation requesting contribution – in the form of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $20bn a per year, from South Korea to the United States, to be invested at the direction of the president's leadership. Approval on the conditions of those transfers assisted in that the duty level on Korean exports to the United States would decrease from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour took place in its concluding phase, however, as he encountered the Chinese leader.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the world's two largest economies was noticeably different than the interactions Trump had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Missing were typical ceremony and the display. Lacking armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, missing meticulously designed meal plans marking bilateral friendship. By contrast, the two leaders and their top aides sat across a large pale meeting furniture in a plain armed forces facility just off the runway of Busan's global terminal.

It was possibly a demonstration of the significant risks that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed