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Presidential journeys internationally have historically been an occasion to demonstrate the strength of the American nation on the international platform. The president's week-long trip through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the power of the president – but also, at points, of that power's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the duration of the initial days were an exercise in catering to a sometimes volatile American president. It was an admission that Trump, with the signature of a pen, could enact taxes and further steps that have the potential to damage the financial systems of export-dependent states.

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

It was a session of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for each country – for their economies, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their citizens – were immense.

With Beijing, the US leader may wave his pen, but such actions involve repercussions. They carry a cost.

• Trump describes 'amazing' meeting with the Chinese leader but no trade deal reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader establish brief pause as Beijing adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, the president's recent entry into world politics was uneventful.

Each stop was punctuated by a combination of standard trade negotiations – arrangements made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" duties – and personal accommodations that at times approached the obsequious.

In Malaysia, the president gained rights to critical minerals and made advances toward completing economic agreements with regional partners. He also oversaw a treaty that should ease border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "truce" the president prefers to highlight.

In the Japanese leg, the president's official aircraft soared near a famous structure illuminated American colors – with a peak in golden.

Newly elected Prime Minister the Japanese leader detailed $550bn in Japan's financial commitments in the US and gave the president a present of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf club and carrier that belonged to the late leader, the killed former prime minister who connected with Trump in his first term.

She also became the most recent overseas counterpart to suggest the president for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Keeping pace, South Korea welcomed the president with artillery firing a honor salute and a armed forces orchestra that played Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the band anthem that has turned into a political gathering anthem.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he presented the American leader his state's highest medal and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with Lee contained a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Subsequently, the hosts served the president premium vintage at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with half-dozen global figures attending the APEC meeting.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by US citizens who oppose his authority-expanding expansions of executive authority, but during his East Asia visit he was handled as royalty.

And like the monarchs of old, the president visited South Korea seeking payment – in the form of $two hundred billion in cash payments, $20bn a year, from Korea to the US, to be used at the direction of the president's leadership. Approval on the terms of those payments helped ensure that the tariff rate on host nation exports to the US would fall from 25% to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's Asian tour occurred in its last moments, though, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

At that location, the authority balance between heads of the world's two largest economies was decidedly different than the meetings the president had with his foreign counterparts in earlier stops.

Absent were all the ceremony and the display. Lacking military bands, without ceremonial troops, without carefully crafted menus honoring shared goodwill. Rather, the two leaders and their senior advisors sat across a large pale negotiating table in a plain armed forces facility just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's air transport hub.

It was likely a reflection of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with Xi in the southern port, he looked