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Presidential journeys overseas have traditionally been an occasion to display the power of the United States on the international platform. Trump's multi-day tour through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the authority of Trump – but also, at moments, of that power's limitations.

The president's visits in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the opening phase were an demonstration in satisfying a at times mercurial American president. It was an recognition that the president, with the stroke of a document, could introduce taxes and other measures that have the capacity to harm the markets of export-oriented countries.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the last day, however, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of equals on the international scene, where the risks for the two powers – for their markets, for their world reputation, for the prosperity of their people – were significant.

With the Chinese, the president may use his authority, but those steps come with ramifications. They involve a toll.

• Trump describes 'impressive' encounter with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and Trump reach temporary truce as China adopts strategic patience

For the initial phase, the president's recent foray into international relations was successful.

Each visit was characterized by a combination of traditional trade negotiations – deals made under the threat of the president's "equivalent" tariffs – and personal accommodations that at times bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained rights to essential resources and made headway toward completing trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a pact that should reduce border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the US leader loves to promote.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One passed by a landmark tower illuminated red, white and blue – with a peak in gilded.

Newly elected Leader Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the America and gave the US leader a offering of a quarter-thousand flowering trees for America's semiquincentennial, and a golf club and carrier that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed past head who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest overseas counterpart to suggest Trump for his much-desired international honor.

Matching the effort, South Korea welcomed Trump with guns performing a traditional greeting and a armed forces orchestra that performed the leader's song and the Village People song – the Village People song that has become a political gathering anthem.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for Trump during which he awarded the president his state's highest medal and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with Lee featured a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gilded brownies. Later that day, the Koreans served the president vineyard wine at an exclusive gathering in Trump's honor with six world leaders present at the APEC summit.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" protests by US citizens who disapprove of his authority-expanding expansions of leader's control, but during his East Asia visit he was treated like royalty.

And like the kings of ancient times, Trump arrived in Korea seeking payment – in the shape of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $twenty billion a per year, from South Korea to the America, to be allocated at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Approval on the details of those payments contributed to that the tax percentage on Korean goods to the United States would fall from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's Asia trip came in its final hours, however, as he met with Xi.

There, the power dynamic between counterparts of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably different than the meetings the president had with his international peers in earlier stops.

Absent were typical pomp and the display. No armed forces orchestras, absent protocol units, missing thoughtfully prepared dining selections honoring shared goodwill. Rather, the pair of counterparts and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white discussion surface in a plain service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a indication of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with the Chinese leader in the Korean city, he looked