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Presidential journeys overseas have typically been an opportunity to showcase the power of the United States on the global scene. Donald Trump's multi-day tour through Asian nations, by contrast, has been a demonstration of the authority of Trump – but also, at points, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the course of the first four days were an display in catering to a at times mercurial American president. It was an admission that the leader, with the flick of a document, could introduce taxes and additional actions that have the potential to devastate the markets of export-oriented countries.

His discussion with Chinese leader Xi on the last day, though, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of equals on the global stage, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their world reputation, for the well-being of their populations – were enormous.

With China, the president may wave his authority, but such actions come with consequences. They come with a toll.

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For the first four days, Trump's most recent venture into global diplomacy was successful.

Each visit was punctuated by a combination of standard economic talks – arrangements made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" duties – and special treatment that at times verged on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained entry to critical minerals and made advances toward completing commercial deals with south-east Asian nations. He also led a pact that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the American president enjoys to highlight.

In Japan, the president's helicopter flew past a landmark tower illuminated red, white and blue – with a top in golden.

Newly elected Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi outlined $550bn in Tokyo's funding in the America and offered the US leader a offering of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and bag that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed past head who connected with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest international head to suggest the president for his long-sought peace award.

Matching the effort, the Korean government welcomed the president with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that rendered the leader's song and YMCA – the Village People anthem that has become a presidential event standard.

President Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he presented the president his country's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with the Korean leader featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded chocolate squares. Subsequently, the South Koreans offered the president premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honour with six world leaders present at the APEC meeting.

In the US, the president may be the target of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by Americans who disapprove of his limit-pushing increases of leader's control, but during his Asian tour he was received as royalty.

And like the rulers of ancient times, the president came to the Korean nation demanding tribute – in the guise of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a year, from the host nation to the US, to be used at the direction of Trump's leadership. Consent on the terms of those payments assisted in that the duty level on host nation exports to the US would fall from a quarter to fifteen percent.

The primary focus of the president's Asian tour occurred in its last moments, though, as he encountered Xi.

In that setting, the influence relationship between leaders of the world's two largest economies was markedly different than the meetings the president had with his international peers in prior visits.

Absent were all the ceremony and the display. Lacking armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, without carefully crafted menus honoring shared goodwill. Instead, the two leaders and their senior advisors sat across a long white discussion surface in a unremarkable service structure just near the airstrip of the southern port's international airport.

It was perhaps a indication of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with Xi in the Korean city, he looked