Trump's East Asia Trip Includes Agreements, Knee-Bending and a Revealing Final Meeting

US presidential trips abroad have historically been an occasion to showcase the power of the American nation on the world stage. The president's week-long swing through Asian nations, conversely, has been a show of the authority of the president – but also, at times, of that authority's boundaries.

The president's stops in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an display in satisfying a sometimes volatile US leader. It was an recognition that the president, with the signature of a pen, could introduce duties and other measures that have the ability to damage the markets of export-oriented nations.

His sit-down with Beijing's head Xi on the final day, nevertheless, was a distinct situation.

It was a session of peers on the international scene, where the stakes for each country – for their financial health, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their people – were significant.

With Beijing, the president may use his authority, but those steps entail consequences. They involve a price.

• The US president praises 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no pact finalized
• Xi and Trump reach brief pause as Beijing plays longer game

For the first four days, the president's latest entry into international relations was successful.

Each stop was punctuated by a combination of standard economic talks – deals made under the threat of the president's "equivalent" tariffs – and special treatment that at points bordered on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained access to key materials and made advances toward concluding economic agreements with south-east Asian nations. He also oversaw a treaty that should alleviate frontier issues between Thailand and Cambodia – the type of "peace deal" the American president loves to tout.

In the Japanese leg, the president's Marine One flew past a famous structure illuminated US flag colors – with a top in golden.

Freshly appointed Head Sanai Takaichi outlined $550 billion in Japanese investments in the United States and presented the US leader a gift of a quarter-thousand sakura trees for the United States' 250th birthday, and a golf equipment and case that came from Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who bonded with Trump in his first term.

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

Not to be outdone, Korea received Trump with artillery discharging a 21-gun salute and a armed forces orchestra that played Hail to the Chief and the classic tune – the band anthem that has turned into a political gathering standard.

President Lee held an "honour ceremony" for Trump during which he presented the president his state's highest medal and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with Lee contained a "Diplomat's Sweet" of gold-encrusted baked goods. Later that day, the hosts provided the president fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's honor with multiple international heads participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the target of "Anti-Monarchy" protests by US citizens who disapprove of his limit-pushing increases of presidential power, but during his regional tour he was treated like royalty.

And like the monarchs of ancient times, the president arrived in Korea seeking tribute – in the shape of $200 billion in monetary contributions, $20bn a year, from the host nation to the United States, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Consent on the details of those contributions helped ensure that the tariff rate on host nation goods to the America would decrease from a quarter to under twenty percent.

The main event of the president's Asia trip occurred in its concluding phase, though, as he encountered Xi.

In that setting, the authority balance between leaders of the planet's biggest economic powers was noticeably divergent than the interactions the president had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

Absent were the usual pageantry and the display. Lacking service ensembles, no protocol units, missing meticulously designed meal plans celebrating mutual national affection. Instead, the two leaders and their senior advisors were seated across a extended light-colored negotiating table in a unremarkable service structure just adjacent to the landing strip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was perhaps a demonstration of the major consequences that when the president made contact with Xi in the Korean city, he appeared