Trump’s Asia tour sees deals, knee-bending and a revealing Xi meeting

US presidential trips abroad have traditionally been an opportunity to showcase the strength of the American nation on the world stage. On the other hand, Donald Trump’s five-day tour through East Asia was a demonstration of Trump’s power — but also, at times, of the limitations of that power.

Trump’s stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea over the first four days were an exercise in appeasing a sometimes volatile US president. It was an admission that Trump, with the flick of a pen, could impose tariffs and other measures that have the potential to devastate the economies of export-dependent nations.

But his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday was something completely different.

It was a meeting of equals on the world stage, where the stakes were enormous for both countries – for their economies, their international prestige, and the well-being of their people.

In the case of China, Trump may be moving his pen, but such actions come with consequences. They come at a cost.

For the first four days, Trump’s latest foray into global diplomacy has been smooth sailing.

Each stop was a mix of traditional trade negotiations — deals made under Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs — and personal compromises that sometimes bordered on submission.

In Malaysia, Trump succeeded in securing access to critical minerals and made progress toward finalizing trade arrangements with Southeast Asian countries. He also presided over a treaty that would ease border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of “peace deal” that the US president likes to tout.

In Japan, Trump’s seaplane flew past the Tokyo Tower lit up in red, white and blue — with a Trump gold roof.

Newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi provided details of $550 billion in Japanese investments in the United States and offered the US president a gift of 250 cherry trees on the occasion of America’s 250th birthday, a golf club and a bag belonging to Shinzo Abe, the assassinated former prime minister who was associated with Trump in his first term.

She also became the latest foreign leader to nominate Trump for the much-coveted Nobel Peace Prize.

Not to be outdone, South Korea welcomed Trump with a 21-gun artillery salute and a military band that played the leader’s salute and the YMCA — the village song that has become an anthem for Trump.

President Lee Jae-myung held a “tribute ceremony” for Trump, during which the American leader awarded his country’s highest honor and a replica of the old Korean family crown.

Lunch with Lee included a “peacemaker dessert” of gold-covered brownies. Later that day, Koreans served Trump wine at an intimate dinner in Trump’s honor with six world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the United States, Trump may be the subject of “no kings” demonstrations by Americans who reject his expansions in presidential power, but during his tour of East Asia he was treated like royalty.

Like ancient kings, Trump arrived in Korea seeking tribute – in the form of $200 billion in cash payments, $20 billion annually, from South Korea to the United States, to be invested at the direction of the Trump administration. Agreement on the terms of these payments helped ensure that the tariff rate on South Korean exports to the United States fell from 25% to 15%.

But the main event of Trump’s Asian trip came in his final hours, when he met with Xi.

There, the power dynamic between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies was very different from the interactions Trump had had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

Missing all the pomp and pageantry. There are no military bands, no honor guards, and no carefully prepared menus to celebrate mutual patriotic affection. Instead, the two leaders and their top aides sat at a long white negotiating table in an ordinary military building just off the runway at Busan International Airport.

Perhaps it was a reflection of the high stakes that made Trump appear nervous when he shook hands with Xi in Busan. It was a far cry from his relaxed attitude when he told me the previous day that he was optimistic he would have a good meeting.

“I know a little bit about what’s going on because we talked to them,” he said. “I don’t just walk into a meeting cold.”

For months, Trump has been threatening to raise tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States — both as a source of revenue for the US Treasury and also to pressure China to open its markets and control the export of chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl.

China, in contrast to many of America’s other trading partners, has responded with escalation rather than concessions.

If tariffs are a source of economic hardship for China, Beijing will target American vulnerabilities. It suspended purchases of American agricultural products and proposed export controls on its vast supplies of critical minerals – resources on which the United States, and much of the world, depends for high-tech manufacturing.

Trump was in an upbeat mood after the meeting, which he described as “amazing” and scored a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. The president appeared to be in a good mood even as the plane struggled with intense turbulence as it ascended into the sky.

But it was a battle of wills and economic pain that put the two countries on the path that eventually led to a meeting on Thursday and both sides agreeing to de-escalate.

The United States reduced its tariffs, while China facilitated access to vital minerals, pledged to resume imports of American agricultural products and increase its purchases of American oil and gas.

Although it may not have been a breakthrough, it was an admission by both sides that the current situation was unsustainable.

But the international system that will replace it is not at all clear. As Xi acknowledged in his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting, China and the United States “do not always agree with each other.”

“It is normal for there to be frictions between the two leading economies in the world from time to time,” he said.

That may have represented an improvement in the outlook after months of tension, but it was also a sign that “frictions” are here to stay.

China has global and regional ambitions and an increasing willingness to expand its influence.

For his part, Trump tried to rearrange American priorities abroad, using American economic power to pressure allies and adversaries alike. And it is these American allies – countries like Japan and South Korea that have long relied on American political, economic and military support – who are scrambling to adapt to the new reality.

Some of this scramble comes in the form of a backwards willingness to accommodate Trump in ways large and small. Gifts and honors over dinner are easy, but multibillion-dollar payments, increased military spending and permanent tariffs take their toll.

It may ultimately lead to a re-evaluation of relations with America – and thus with China.

Trump may have received a royal welcome in South Korea, but in what might be considered a measure of misplaced symbolism, when he left, it was Xi Jinping who arrived. The Korean hosts had promised the Chinese leader a diplomatic reception equal to that received by the Americans.

Xi is fully participating in the APEC leaders’ meetings – procedures that Trump has chosen to skip. If there is a vacuum created by American international maneuvers, it is a vacuum that China appears more prepared to fill.

Perhaps Trump will return to America with everything he wanted from this trip. But, in a twist on the Rolling Stones song he used to play at his political rallies, it’s not yet clear he’s got what America needs.