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American leader visits internationally have typically been an occasion to display the influence of the American nation on the global scene. Trump's multi-day swing through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the power of the president – but also, at moments, of that authority's constraints.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the first four days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes unpredictable US leader. It was an recognition that the leader, with the flick of a pen, could impose taxes and other measures that have the ability to devastate the financial systems of export-oriented nations.

His meeting with China's president Xi on Thursday, nevertheless, was a distinct situation.

It was a meeting of equals on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their populations – were immense.

With the Chinese, Trump may wave his power, but these moves entail repercussions. They come with a price.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' talks with the Chinese leader but no trade deal finalized
• Xi and the US leader establish temporary truce as Beijing plays longer game

For the opening segment, the president's latest venture into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each destination was punctuated by a combination of standard trade negotiations – deals made under the shadow of Trump's "reciprocal" taxes – and individual concessions that at points approached the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to essential resources and made headway toward completing trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also led a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace deal" the American president enjoys to tout.

In Japan, the president's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower lit US flag colors – with a peak in golden.

Newly elected Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi described $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the US and offered the president a gift of 250 flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a sports gear and bag that was owned by Shinzo Abe, the assassinated past head who developed ties with the president in his first term.

She also became the latest international head to propose the president for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, the Korean government greeted the president with guns performing a traditional greeting and a military band that performed Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the band anthem that has become a presidential event theme.

President Lee held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he awarded the US president his state's top honor and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gilded baked goods. Later that day, the Koreans provided the president premium vintage at an private meal in Trump's recognition with multiple global figures participating in the regional summit meeting.

In the United States, Trump may be the subject of "No Kings" rallies by Americans who reject his boundary-testing expansions of executive authority, but during his Asian swing he was treated like monarchy.

And like the kings of old, the president came to South Korea requesting tribute – in the form of $200bn in financial transfers, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the US, to be invested at the guidance of the president's administration. Consent on the details of those payments assisted in that the tax percentage on South Korean products to the United States would decrease from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour occurred in its concluding phase, however, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

There, the authority balance between leaders of the global top two markets was noticeably distinct than the meetings the president had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Absent were all the ceremony and the pageantry. No armed forces orchestras, absent ceremonial troops, no meticulously designed dining selections marking shared goodwill. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their top aides positioned themselves across a large pale discussion surface in a unremarkable service structure just near the airstrip of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a reflection of the major consequences that when the president exchanged greetings with Xi in the southern port, he seemed