Trump's Asia Trip Features Agreements, Knee-Bending and a Significant Final Meeting

Presidential journeys overseas have historically been an chance to display the strength of the US on the international platform. Trump's five-day tour through East Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the authority of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's boundaries.

Trump's visits in Malaysia, Japan and Korea over the duration of the initial days were an demonstration in catering to a sometimes unpredictable US leader. It was an admission that the president, with the flick of a document, could introduce tariffs and additional actions that have the capacity to devastate the economies of export-dependent countries.

His meeting with Beijing's head Xi on the last day, though, was a distinct situation.

It was a encounter of equals on the international scene, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their global standing, for the well-being of their people – were immense.

With China, the US leader may use his power, but such actions come with ramifications. They involve a cost.

• Trump describes 'remarkable' meeting with Xi but no agreement agreed
• Xi and the US leader find temporary truce as China adopts strategic patience

For the opening segment, Trump's latest venture into international relations was successful.

Each destination was characterized by a blend of traditional economic talks – arrangements made under the pressure of the president's "equivalent" taxes – and personal accommodations that at times bordered on the obsequious.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained entry to essential resources and made advances toward concluding commercial deals with regional partners. He also presided over a agreement that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of "peace agreement" the American president prefers to promote.

In Japan, Trump's helicopter flew past a Tokyo Tower illuminated US flag colors – with a peak in Trumpian gold.

Recently chosen Leader the Japanese leader detailed $half-trillion in Tokyo's funding in the America and offered the US leader a present of two hundred fifty flowering trees for America's 250th anniversary, and a golf club and carrier that came from former Prime Minister Abe, the murdered former prime minister who connected with Trump in his initial presidency.

She also became the latest international head to propose the president for his much-desired peace award.

Matching the effort, Korea received the president with artillery discharging a honor salute and a military band that rendered Hail to the Chief and YMCA – the band anthem that has evolved into a presidential event theme.

Leader Lee Jae Myung held an "honour ceremony" for the US leader during which he presented the president his nation's premier award and a replica of an traditional ruler's coronet.

Noon repast with the Korean leader included a "Peacemaker's Dessert" of gold-covered brownies. Subsequently, the South Koreans provided Trump fine beverage at an private meal in the president's recognition with half-dozen international heads attending the APEC meeting.

In the United States, the president may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" rallies by US citizens who reject his limit-pushing increases of leader's control, but during his Asian tour he was treated like nobility.

And like the rulers of ancient times, Trump visited South Korea demanding tribute – in the guise of $two hundred billion in monetary contributions, $20bn a year, from Korea to the United States, to be invested at the discretion of Trump's leadership. Agreement on the terms of those transfers contributed to that the tax percentage on host nation products to the US would drop from twenty-five percent to 15%.

The primary focus of Trump's Asia trip occurred in its final hours, however, as he sat down with Xi.

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

Not present were the usual pomp and the spectacle. Lacking armed forces orchestras, no protocol units, without thoughtfully prepared dining selections marking shared goodwill. Instead, the both heads and their key staff sat across a long white meeting furniture in a nondescript military building just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's global terminal.

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