The US President's Asia Trip Includes Deals, Knee-Bending and a Revealing Closing Encounter

American leader visits internationally have traditionally been an opportunity to display the power of the United States on the international platform. Trump's week-long swing through eastern Asia, conversely, has been a demonstration of the clout of the leader – but also, at moments, of that power's constraints.

Trump's destinations in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the course of the opening phase were an display in catering to a occasionally unpredictable US leader. It was an recognition that Trump, with the flick of a document, could introduce tariffs and other measures that have the ability to damage the markets of export-dependent nations.

His meeting with Chinese leader Xi on the last day, though, was a completely different scenario.

It was a meeting of counterparts on the global stage, where the consequences for each country – for their economies, for their global standing, for the welfare of their citizens – were enormous.

With Beijing, Trump may wave his authority, but those steps come with repercussions. They come with a toll.

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

Each stop was punctuated by a blend of standard economic talks – arrangements made under the pressure of Trump's "mutual" duties – and personal accommodations that at times verged on the subservient.

In the Malaysian stop, Trump obtained rights to essential resources and made headway toward finalizing economic agreements with ASEAN countries. He also presided over a pact that should reduce territorial disputes between Thailand and Cambodia – the sort of "peace agreement" the US leader loves to promote.

In the Japanese leg, Trump's official aircraft passed by a famous structure displayed American colors – with a summit in golden.

Newly elected Prime Minister the Japanese leader detailed $550 billion in Japanese investments in the United States and presented the American president a offering of two hundred fifty cherry trees for the United States' semiquincentennial, and a golf club and carrier that came from Shinzo Abe, the murdered ex-leader who developed ties with Trump in his initial presidency.

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

Keeping pace, the Korean government greeted the president with artillery firing a honor salute and a armed forces orchestra that rendered the leader's song and YMCA – the musical group anthem that has turned into a presidential event anthem.

Leader Lee held an "award event" for Trump during which he presented the president his country's premier award and a model of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Midday meal with the Korean leader featured a "Conciliatory Treat" of gold-encrusted chocolate squares. Afterward, the South Koreans offered Trump fine beverage at an private meal in Trump's honor with half-dozen world leaders present at the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the America, Trump may be the focus of "Anti-Authority" demonstrations by US citizens who oppose his authority-expanding extensions of executive authority, but during his East Asia visit he was received as monarchy.

And like the monarchs of history, the president visited South Korea demanding contribution – in the guise of $200 billion in financial transfers, $twenty billion a annually, from South Korea to the US, to be allocated at the guidance of the president's leadership. Approval on the details of those contributions contributed to that the duty level on South Korean products to the United States would fall from 25% to 15%.

The central moment of the president's regional visit occurred in its concluding phase, though, as he encountered Xi.

At that location, the power dynamic between leaders of the global top two markets was decidedly distinct than the exchanges Trump had with his foreign counterparts in prior visits.

Missing were typical ceremony and the pageantry. No military bands, absent protocol units, without meticulously designed meal plans celebrating shared goodwill. Rather, the two leaders and their senior advisors were seated across a long white discussion surface in a plain military building just near the airstrip of the city of Busan's international airport.

It was possibly a demonstration of the significant risks that when the president shook hands with Xi in Busan, he seemed