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Presidential journeys abroad have traditionally been an opportunity to showcase the power of the American nation on the world stage. Donald Trump's week-long tour through East Asia, on the other hand, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at times, of that authority's limitations.

Trump's stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the initial days were an display in catering to a sometimes mercurial US leader. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a hand, could impose taxes and additional actions that have the potential to damage the markets of trade-reliant countries.

His sit-down with China's president Xi Jinping on the last day, though, was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the global stage, where the risks for each country – for their financial health, for their world reputation, for the welfare of their populations – were enormous.

With China, the president may use his authority, but these moves entail repercussions. They come with a toll.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' meeting with the Chinese leader but no agreement reached
• The Chinese president and Trump find temporary truce as Beijing pursues extended strategy

For the first four days, Trump's most recent entry into world politics was successful.

Each stop was marked by a blend of conventional trade negotiations – agreements made under the pressure of Trump's "reciprocal" duties – and individual concessions that at points bordered on the deferential.

In Malaysia, the president obtained entry to critical minerals and made advances toward concluding trade arrangements with regional partners. He also led a pact that should ease territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "truce" the US leader loves to highlight.

In Japan, Trump's helicopter passed by a landmark tower lit US flag colors – with a summit in Trumpian gold.

Freshly appointed Head Sanai Takaichi outlined $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the United States and offered the US leader a present of 250 sakura trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf club and carrier that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the killed former prime minister who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest international head to nominate the president for his long-sought Nobel Peace Prize.

Matching the effort, the Korean government greeted the president with guns performing a honor salute and a service ensemble that played Hail to the Chief and the Village People song – the Village People song that has turned into a political gathering standard.

President Lee Jae Myung held an "recognition ritual" for the US leader during which he presented the US president his nation's highest medal and a replica of an historical royal headpiece.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gilded brownies. Later that day, the Koreans served Trump vineyard wine at an private meal in Trump's honour with half-dozen world leaders attending the APEC meeting.

In the United States, Trump may be the focus of "No Kings" protests by Americans who reject his authority-expanding extensions of presidential power, but during his Asian tour he was treated like monarchy.

And like the rulers of old, Trump came to South Korea requesting tribute – in the shape of $200bn in monetary contributions, $20 billion a per year, from the host nation to the United States, 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 products to the America would fall from twenty-five percent to under twenty percent.

The central moment of Trump's Asia trip came in its final hours, however, as he sat down with the Chinese leader.

In that setting, the power dynamic between heads of the global top two markets was markedly distinct than the interactions Trump had with his overseas colleagues in previous days.

Missing were the usual ceremony and the spectacle. Lacking service ensembles, without protocol units, no carefully crafted menus celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the both heads and their key staff were seated across a large pale meeting furniture in a plain service structure just near the airstrip of the southern port's air transport hub.

It was likely a demonstration of the high stakes that when Trump made contact with the Chinese leader in Busan, he seemed