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Presidential journeys overseas have traditionally been an chance to demonstrate the influence of the United States on the global scene. Donald Trump's multi-day swing through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that authority's boundaries.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the initial days were an exercise in satisfying a sometimes mercurial American president. It was an recognition that Trump, with the signature of a pen, could introduce duties and additional actions that have the capacity to devastate the financial systems of export-oriented countries.

His sit-down with Chinese leader Xi on Thursday, however, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of counterparts on the world platform, where the risks for both nations – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their populations – were enormous.

With the Chinese, the president may flick his authority, but these moves entail repercussions. They carry a toll.

• The US president hails 'impressive' encounter with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and the US leader establish brief pause as China plays longer game

For the first four days, Trump's most recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each visit was characterized by a mix of standard economic talks – agreements made under the shadow of Trump's "mutual" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at points bordered on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president secured access to critical minerals and made progress toward finalizing economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a pact that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace deal" the American president loves to highlight.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One soared near a Tokyo Tower lit US flag colors – with a top in Trumpian gold.

Newly elected Head Takaichi described $half-trillion in Japan's financial commitments in the US and presented the American president a gift of two hundred fifty flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a sports gear and carrier that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed ex-leader who bonded with the president in his first term.

She also became the most recent foreign leader to suggest the president for his long-sought peace award.

Not to be outdone, the Korean government received the president with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that performed the leader's song and the Village People song – the Village People song that has evolved into a Trump rally anthem.

President Lee held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the president his state's highest medal and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded brownies. Afterward, the South Koreans offered the president fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six global figures participating in the APEC summit.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by Americans who oppose his boundary-testing extensions of leader's control, but during his East Asia visit he was received as royalty.

And like the monarchs of old, Trump arrived in the Korean nation requesting tribute – in the shape of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the US, to be allocated at the discretion of the president's leadership. Consent on the terms of those payments helped ensure that the duty level on Korean exports to the US would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The central moment of the president's regional visit occurred in its last moments, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

In that setting, the authority balance between heads of the global top two markets was markedly divergent than the meetings Trump had with his overseas colleagues in prior visits.

Missing were the usual pageantry and the display. No service ensembles, absent honour guards, missing thoughtfully prepared menus marking mutual national affection. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors sat across a large pale negotiating table in a unremarkable service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's global terminal.

It was perhaps a reflection of the significant risks that when the president made contact with Xi in the southern port, he appeared