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American leader visits internationally have traditionally been an occasion to showcase the influence of the US on the international platform. The president's week-long swing through Asian nations, conversely, has been a display of the authority of the president – but also, at times, of that influence's limitations.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the initial days were an demonstration in pleasing a occasionally unpredictable president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the flick of a hand, could introduce tariffs and further steps that have the potential to harm the markets of export-dependent nations.

His discussion with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, though, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of equals on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the welfare of their people – were immense.

With the Chinese, the president may flick his pen, but such actions come with repercussions. They involve a cost.

• The US president describes 'impressive' talks with Xi but no agreement finalized
• The Chinese president and Trump reach short-term ceasefire as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the first four days, the president's recent entry into global diplomacy was uneventful.

Each visit was punctuated by a mix of conventional economic talks – agreements made under the pressure of Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs – and individual concessions that at times approached the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump secured entry to key materials and made advances toward concluding economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also led a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the US leader prefers to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower displayed American colors – with a peak in golden.

Recently chosen Leader the Japanese leader described $550bn in Japanese investments in the United States and offered the president a present of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for America's 250th birthday, and a golf club and carrier that was owned by the late leader, the murdered former prime minister who connected with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the most recent international head to propose the president for his highly-coveted peace award.

Matching the effort, South Korea greeted the president with guns discharging a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that rendered Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the musical group anthem that has turned into a Trump rally theme.

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

Midday meal with the Korean leader contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered baked goods. Afterward, the Koreans served Trump premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in the president's honor with multiple world leaders participating in the APEC meeting.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by US citizens who reject his authority-expanding increases of leader's control, but during his East Asia tour he was treated like royalty.

And like the monarchs of history, the president came to South Korea requesting contribution – in the form of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $20bn a year, from the host nation to the United States, to be invested at the direction of the president's government. Consent on the terms of those contributions helped ensure that the tax percentage on South Korean exports to the United States would fall from a quarter to 15%.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour occurred in its final hours, though, as he met with Xi.

In that setting, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was noticeably different than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in previous days.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the pageantry. Lacking service ensembles, without protocol units, missing carefully crafted dining selections marking bilateral friendship. Instead, the pair of counterparts and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript service structure just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was possibly a indication of the significant risks that when Trump made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he seemed