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Presidential journeys overseas have typically been an chance to showcase the strength of the US on the global scene. Donald Trump's multi-day trip through East Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the clout of the leader – but also, at moments, of that influence's constraints.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the first four days were an demonstration in pleasing a sometimes unpredictable US leader. It was an recognition that Trump, with the stroke of a hand, could introduce duties and other measures that have the ability to damage the markets of export-dependent nations.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi on Thursday, nevertheless, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of peers on the world platform, where the consequences for the two powers – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their people – were significant.

With the Chinese, Trump may flick his authority, but those steps come with ramifications. They involve a cost.

• The US president hails 'amazing' meeting with Xi but no pact agreed
• The Chinese president and the US leader find short-term ceasefire as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the initial phase, the president's latest entry into world politics was smooth sailing.

Each stop was marked by a combination of conventional trade negotiations – agreements made under the threat of Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at times approached the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump secured rights to essential resources and made advances toward concluding trade arrangements with regional partners. He also oversaw a treaty that should ease territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's helicopter flew past a famous structure displayed red, white and blue – with a summit in golden.

Newly elected Leader Takaichi detailed $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the US leader a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a sports gear and bag that came from Shinzo Abe, the killed ex-leader who developed ties with Trump in his first term.

She also became the latest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, Korea welcomed Trump with artillery performing a traditional greeting and a service ensemble that played the leader's song and YMCA – the band anthem that has become a presidential event theme.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he presented the American leader his nation's top honor and a model of an historical royal headpiece.

Noon repast with Lee contained a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-covered baked goods. Subsequently, the South Koreans served Trump fine beverage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six international heads present at the APEC summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by the public who disapprove of his boundary-testing extensions of presidential power, but during his Asian tour he was treated like nobility.

And like the kings of old, the president visited the Korean nation requesting contribution – in the guise of $200 billion in cash payments, $twenty billion a year, from South Korea to the US, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's administration. Agreement on the terms of those contributions assisted in that the duty level on Korean exports to the United States would decrease from a quarter to 15%.

The primary focus of the president's regional visit came in its final hours, however, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the authority balance between leaders of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly different than the interactions Trump had with his overseas colleagues in prior visits.

Not present were the usual pageantry and the display. Lacking service ensembles, no honour guards, missing meticulously designed meal plans celebrating mutual national affection. By contrast, the pair of counterparts and their senior advisors sat across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript service structure just off the runway of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a indication of the major consequences that when Trump made contact with Xi in the southern port, he seemed