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Presidential journeys overseas have historically been an occasion to demonstrate the influence of the US on the international platform. Donald Trump's week-long swing through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a show of the authority of Trump – but also, at points, of that power's boundaries.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the opening phase were an exercise in pleasing a sometimes unpredictable American president. It was an admission that the leader, with the signature of a pen, could impose taxes and other measures that have the capacity to damage the financial systems of trade-reliant nations.

His sit-down with China's president Xi Jinping on the final day, nevertheless, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of equals on the global stage, where the risks for each country – for their markets, for their global standing, for the welfare of their populations – were enormous.

With China, the president may flick his power, but such actions come with repercussions. They carry a price.

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For the initial phase, Trump's latest entry into world politics was uneventful.

Each visit was marked by a combination of traditional commercial discussions – arrangements made under the pressure of the president's "reciprocal" tariffs – and individual concessions that at moments approached the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president gained entry to key materials and made headway toward completing commercial deals with ASEAN countries. He also presided over a agreement that should ease territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace agreement" the American president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft soared near a Tokyo Tower illuminated US flag colors – with a peak in golden.

Recently chosen Leader the Japanese leader described $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the US and gave the US leader a gift of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and case that came from Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the newest overseas counterpart to propose the president for his highly-coveted peace award.

Keeping pace, South Korea welcomed the president with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that rendered Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the musical group tune that has become a political gathering theme.

Leader the Korean president held an "award event" for the US leader during which he awarded the president his state's premier award and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gilded chocolate squares. Afterward, the Koreans offered the president vineyard wine at an private meal in Trump's recognition with half-dozen global figures present at the APEC summit.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by the public who reject his boundary-testing increases of leader's control, but during his Asian visit he was handled as monarchy.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump arrived in Korea requesting payment – in the form of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $20bn a year, from Korea to the America, to be used at the direction of Trump's leadership. Consent on the terms of those transfers contributed to that the duty level on South Korean products to the America would decrease from a quarter to 15%.

The primary focus of the president's regional visit came in its last moments, however, as he encountered Xi.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the world's two largest economies was decidedly distinct than the meetings the president had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Missing were typical ceremony and the pageantry. No military bands, without honour guards, without meticulously designed dining selections marking mutual national affection. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides sat across a extended light-colored meeting furniture in a nondescript service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a indication of the high stakes that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed