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American leader visits internationally have traditionally been an chance to showcase the strength of the US on the global scene. The president's five-day tour through Asian nations, conversely, has been a show of the clout of the president – but also, at points, of that power's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the span of the first four days were an demonstration in catering to a at times volatile American president. It was an recognition that Trump, with the signature of a hand, could introduce tariffs and further steps that have the capacity to devastate the economies of export-dependent countries.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on Thursday, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a session of peers on the global stage, where the consequences for both nations – for their markets, for their international prestige, for the prosperity of their people – were significant.

With the Chinese, the president may use his authority, but such actions entail repercussions. They come with a toll.

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

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

Each visit was marked by a combination of traditional economic talks – agreements made under the threat of Trump's "equivalent" tariffs – and individual concessions that at moments bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, the president gained rights to critical minerals and made headway toward finalizing trade arrangements with ASEAN countries. He also oversaw a treaty that should reduce border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the US leader loves to promote.

In Japan, Trump's Marine One passed by a landmark tower lit red, white and blue – with a summit in gilded.

Recently chosen Head Sanai Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Tokyo's funding in the US and gave the president a offering of a quarter-thousand cherry trees for the United States' 250th anniversary, and a golf equipment and bag that came from the late leader, the murdered former prime minister who developed ties with Trump in his previous administration.

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

Keeping pace, South Korea greeted the president with guns performing a 21-gun salute and a service ensemble that rendered the presidential anthem and YMCA – the band tune that has turned into a Trump rally theme.

Head Lee held an "award event" for the US leader during which he gave the US president his nation's premier award and a copy of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Later that day, the South Koreans offered the president vineyard wine at an private meal in Trump's recognition with six global figures attending the APEC meeting.

In the US, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Monarchy" demonstrations by the public who oppose his boundary-testing extensions of leader's control, but during his Asian tour he was treated like nobility.

And like the kings of old, Trump visited South Korea seeking payment – in the form of $200bn in financial transfers, $20 billion a year, from Korea to the America, to be invested at the guidance of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the conditions of those transfers assisted in that the duty level on Korean products to the United States would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The central moment of the president's Asian tour came in its last moments, however, as he met with Xi.

There, the influence relationship between leaders of the world's two largest economies was noticeably divergent than the exchanges Trump had with his overseas colleagues in earlier stops.

Not present were the usual pageantry and the spectacle. Without any armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, no meticulously designed menus honoring bilateral friendship. Instead, the two leaders and their key staff positioned themselves across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript military building just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's global terminal.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the major consequences that when Trump exchanged greetings with Xi in the Korean city, he looked