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Presidential journeys internationally have typically been an occasion to demonstrate the power of the United States on the world stage. Donald Trump's multi-day tour through East Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the clout of Trump – but also, at points, of that influence's constraints.

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 president. It was an acknowledgement that the leader, with the signature of a hand, could enact duties and further steps that have the potential to damage the financial systems of export-oriented countries.

His sit-down with China's president Xi Jinping on Thursday, however, was something entirely different.

It was a encounter of peers on the world platform, where the consequences for the two powers – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their populations – were significant.

With the Chinese, the US leader may flick his authority, but such actions come with repercussions. They involve a price.

• Trump describes 'amazing' talks with the Chinese leader but no pact finalized
• The Chinese president and Trump find brief pause as China plays longer game

For the first four days, the president's latest foray into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each stop was characterized by a blend of traditional trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of the president's "equivalent" taxes – and individual concessions that at times approached the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained access to key materials and made progress toward finalizing economic agreements with regional partners. He also led a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the president prefers to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft flew past a Tokyo Tower displayed US flag colors – with a peak in golden.

Recently chosen Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi detailed $550bn in Japanese investments in the United States and presented the president a gift of 250 cherry trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and case that belonged to former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who bonded with the president in his initial presidency.

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

Not to be outdone, the Korean government welcomed Trump with guns performing a 21-gun salute and a military band that rendered the leader's song and the classic tune – the musical group song that has turned into a presidential event standard.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he gave the US president his state's highest medal and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Afterward, the South Koreans served the president premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six world leaders present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference meeting.

In the United States, Trump may be the focus of "No Kings" demonstrations by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding increases of leader's control, but during his regional swing he was received as royalty.

And like the rulers of ancient times, the president came to the Korean nation requesting contribution – in the shape of $200bn in monetary contributions, $20 billion a annually, from Korea to the US, to be used at the discretion of Trump's administration. Agreement on the conditions of those contributions assisted in that the duty level on South Korean goods to the United States would drop from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The main event of the president's Asian tour occurred in its final hours, though, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly different than the meetings the president had with his international peers in previous days.

Absent were all the pageantry and the spectacle. Without any military bands, without honour guards, no thoughtfully prepared menus celebrating bilateral friendship. Instead, the both heads and their senior advisors positioned themselves across a long white meeting furniture in a unremarkable service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of Busan's international airport.

It was likely a reflection of the high stakes that when Trump made contact with Xi in the southern port, he looked