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US presidential trips abroad have traditionally been an chance to showcase the influence of the American nation on the global scene. The president's multi-day swing through Asian nations, on the other hand, has been a display of the power of Trump – but also, at times, of that influence's boundaries.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes unpredictable US leader. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the stroke of a document, could introduce taxes and further steps that have the capacity to harm the economies of export-oriented countries.

His sit-down with Beijing's head Xi Jinping on Thursday, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of peers on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their populations – were enormous.

With China, Trump may flick his power, but those steps come with consequences. They involve a cost.

• Trump praises 'remarkable' meeting with the Chinese leader but no pact finalized
• Xi and Trump reach brief pause as China adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, the president's most recent venture into international relations was uneventful.

Each stop was marked by a blend of standard commercial discussions – deals made under the shadow of Trump's "reciprocal" taxes – and personal accommodations that at moments approached the obsequious.

In Malaysia, the president secured entry to essential resources and made headway toward finalizing trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also led a agreement that should ease territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the American president loves to highlight.

In Japan, the president's official aircraft passed by a Tokyo Tower illuminated American colors – with a peak in gilded.

Recently chosen Head the Japanese leader detailed $550bn in Japanese investments in the United States and gave the American president a offering of two hundred fifty sakura trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a sports gear and carrier that came from Shinzo Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who connected with the president in his first term.

She also became the newest international head to nominate Trump for his highly-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, South Korea greeted Trump with artillery discharging a honor salute and a military band that rendered the presidential anthem and the Village People song – the Village People anthem that has evolved into a Trump rally standard.

President Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he awarded the US president his country's top honor and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with Lee featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted brownies. Afterward, the South Koreans served the president vineyard wine at an private meal in the president's honor with multiple international heads present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the America, the president may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" protests by the public who reject his authority-expanding extensions of presidential power, but during his Asian visit he was handled as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of history, the president arrived in the Korean nation seeking payment – in the guise of $200bn in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the America, to be allocated at the guidance of the president's leadership. Agreement on the conditions of those contributions helped ensure that the tariff rate on Korean products to the United States would decrease from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of the president's regional visit occurred in its final hours, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the global top two markets was markedly divergent than the exchanges the president had with his overseas colleagues in previous days.

Not present were typical pageantry and the spectacle. Lacking service ensembles, without protocol units, missing thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring mutual national affection. Instead, the both heads and their senior advisors sat across a long white meeting furniture in a unremarkable military building just off the runway of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was likely a reflection of the significant risks that when the president made contact with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked