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American leader visits overseas have typically been an chance to display the strength of the American nation on the international platform. Donald Trump's five-day trip through East Asia, conversely, has been a display of the power of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's limitations.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the first four days were an demonstration in catering to a occasionally volatile president. It was an recognition that the leader, with the flick of a document, could impose duties and further steps that have the capacity to damage the economies of trade-reliant states.

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

It was a meeting of equals on the international scene, where the stakes for the two powers – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their citizens – were enormous.

With the Chinese, the president may flick his authority, but those steps entail repercussions. They come with a price.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no pact agreed
• The Chinese president and Trump find temporary truce as Beijing plays longer game

For the opening segment, the president's recent foray into global diplomacy was successful.

Each stop was characterized by a blend of conventional economic talks – deals made under the threat of Trump's "equivalent" taxes – and individual concessions that at points bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump secured entry to critical minerals and made progress toward concluding economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also led a treaty that should reduce frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "truce" the American president prefers to tout.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's Marine One soared near a Tokyo Tower displayed American colors – with a summit in golden.

Recently chosen Leader Takaichi described $550bn in Japanese investments in the United States and offered the American president a present of two hundred fifty flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf equipment and carrier that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who developed ties with the president in his first term.

She also became the newest foreign leader to suggest Trump for his much-desired Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, the Korean government welcomed the president with artillery discharging a honor salute and a service ensemble that played the leader's song and the classic tune – the band song that has become a political gathering anthem.

President Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he gave the US president his country's highest medal and a copy of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Noon repast with Lee contained a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-encrusted brownies. Subsequently, the South Koreans provided Trump fine beverage at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with multiple world leaders present at the APEC summit.

In the America, Trump may be the subject of "Anti-Authority" rallies by US citizens who oppose his authority-expanding increases of presidential power, but during his East Asia visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, the president came to Korea seeking payment – in the guise of $200bn in financial transfers, $20 billion a year, from Korea to the US, to be allocated at the direction of Trump's government. Consent on the details of those transfers contributed to that the duty level on Korean products to the United States would fall from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The primary focus of Trump's Asian tour took place in its concluding phase, nevertheless, as he sat down with Xi.

In that setting, the authority balance between heads of the planet's biggest economic powers was markedly distinct than the interactions the president had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Absent were the usual ceremony and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, without protocol units, no thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring bilateral friendship. Rather, the two leaders and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white discussion surface in a nondescript military building just near the airstrip of the southern port's international airport.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the high stakes that when Trump exchanged greetings with Xi in the southern port, he appeared