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Presidential journeys overseas have typically been an occasion to showcase the power of the US on the world stage. The president's five-day swing through eastern Asia, by contrast, has been a display of the clout of the leader – but also, at times, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the span of the opening phase were an display in satisfying a at times volatile president. It was an acknowledgement that Trump, with the flick of a document, could introduce taxes and additional actions that have the ability to damage the economies of export-oriented countries.

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

It was a meeting of equals on the world platform, where the risks for both nations – for their economies, for their global standing, for the prosperity of their populations – were significant.

With China, Trump may flick his authority, but those steps entail repercussions. They involve a price.

• The US president praises 'impressive' encounter with the Chinese leader but no pact reached
• The Chinese president and the US leader reach brief pause as China adopts strategic patience

For the first four days, the president's latest entry into global diplomacy was smooth sailing.

Each stop was punctuated by a mix of traditional economic talks – arrangements made under the threat of Trump's "equivalent" taxes – and individual concessions that at points verged on the deferential.

In the Malaysian stop, the president obtained rights to essential resources and made advances toward concluding commercial deals with south-east Asian nations. He also led a pact that should alleviate territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "truce" the president loves to tout.

In Japan, Trump's official aircraft flew past a famous structure lit US flag colors – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Freshly appointed Head Sanai Takaichi described $550 billion in Japan's financial commitments in the America and gave the president a gift of 250 cherry trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a sports gear and carrier that belonged to the late leader, the murdered ex-leader who connected with the president in his previous administration.

She also became the newest international head to suggest the president for his highly-coveted international honor.

Matching the effort, the Korean government received Trump with cannons firing a 21-gun salute and a military band that rendered the presidential anthem and YMCA – the musical group anthem that has turned into a political gathering theme.

Head Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he gave the American leader his country's top honor and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Lunch with the Korean leader featured a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered chocolate squares. Subsequently, the South Koreans provided the president vineyard wine at an intimate dinner in the president's honor with half-dozen international heads present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" protests by US citizens who disapprove of his authority-expanding expansions of executive authority, but during his East Asia tour he was received as nobility.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump arrived in the Korean nation seeking tribute – in the form of $200 billion in cash payments, $20bn a per year, from South Korea to the America, to be allocated at the direction of the president's administration. Approval on the conditions of those payments contributed to that the tariff rate on host nation products to the US would drop from 25% to fifteen percent.

The main event of the president's Asia trip took place in its concluding phase, though, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

At that location, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was decidedly different than the meetings Trump had with his international peers in previous days.

Missing were all the ceremony and the spectacle. No armed forces orchestras, absent honour guards, no meticulously designed meal plans marking bilateral friendship. Instead, the pair of counterparts and their top aides positioned themselves across a long white negotiating table in a nondescript armed forces facility just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a reflection of the major consequences that when Trump made contact with Xi in Busan, he appeared