Trump’s Asia tour includes deals, kneeling and revealing Xi meeting

The US president’s trips abroad have traditionally been an opportunity to show the strength of the American nation on the world stage. Donald Trump’s five-day trip to East Asia, on the other hand, was a demonstration of Trump’s power — but also, at times, of the limits of that power.

Trump’s visits to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea in the first four days have been an exercise in pandering to the sometimes vacillating US president. It was an admission that Trump could, with the stroke of a pen, impose tariffs and other measures that have the potential to devastate the economies of export-dependent nations.

However, his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday was something entirely different.

It was a meeting of equals on the global stage, where the stakes for both nations—for their economies, for their international prestige, for the well-being of their people—were enormous.

As for China, Trump can wave his pen, but such actions come with consequences. They come with a price.

For the first four days, Trump’s latest foray into global diplomacy went smoothly.

Each stoppage was punctuated by a mix of traditional trade negotiations — deals struck under the shadow of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs — and personal facilitation that sometimes bordered on servitude.

In Malaysia, Trump secured access to critical minerals and made progress toward finalizing trade agreements with Southeast Asian nations. He is also presiding over a treaty meant to ease border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia – the kind of “peace deal” the US president likes to tout.

In Japan, Trump’s Marine One flew past a tower in Tokyo lit up in red, white and blue — with a Trump gold hood.

Prime Minister-elect Sanai Takaichi outlined details of $550 billion in Japanese investment in the United States and offered the US president a gift of 250 cherry trees for America’s 250th birthday, as well as a golf club and a bag that belonged to Shinzo Abe, the slain former prime minister who aligned himself with Trump during his first term.

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

Not to be outdone, South Korea welcomed Trump with a 21-gun artillery barrage and a military band that played Hail to the Chief and YMCA, the Village People song that has become an anthem at Trump rallies.

President Lee Jae-myung held an “honor ceremony” for Trump, during which he presented the American leader with his nation’s highest medal and a replica of an ancient Korean dynastic crown.

Lunch with Lee included a “Peacemaker’s Dessert” of gold-encrusted brownies. Later that day, the Koreans served wine from Trump’s vineyards at an intimate dinner honoring Trump with six world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference summit.

In the US, Trump may be the subject of “No Kings” demonstrations by Americans who disapprove of his limits on the expansion of presidential power, but during his East Asian swing he was treated like royalty.

And like the kings of old, Trump arrived in Korea seeking tribute—in the form of $200 billion in cash payments, $20 billion a year, from South Korea to the U.S. to be invested at the direction of the Trump government. The agreement on the terms of these payments helped ensure that the tariff rate on South Korean exports to the US would fall from 25% to 15%.

The highlight of Trump’s visit to Asia, however, 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 decidedly different from the interactions Trump had with his foreign counterparts in previous days.

It lacked all the pomp and pageantry. No military bands, no honor guards, no carefully crafted menus celebrating mutual national affection. Instead, the two leaders and their top aides sat at a long white negotiating table in a nondescript military building just off the runway at Pusan ​​International Airport.

It was perhaps a reflection of the high stakes that when Trump shook hands with Xi in Busan, he appeared tense. It was a far cry from his calm demeanor when he told me the day before that he was optimistic he would have a good date.

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

For months, Trump has threatened higher tariffs on Chinese exports to the U.S. — both as a source of revenue for the U.S. treasury and to pressure China to open its markets and control exports of chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl.

China, unlike many of America’s other trading partners, responded with escalation rather than concessions.

If tariffs were a source of economic hardship for China, then Beijing would target America’s vulnerabilities. It halted purchases of American agricultural products and proposed export controls on its large supplies of critical minerals — resources the US and much of the world rely on for high-tech manufacturing.

Trump’s mood was upbeat after the meeting, which he described as “amazing” and rated it a 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. The president appeared in good spirits even as the plane was buffeted by severe turbulence as it climbed into the sky.

But a battle of wills and economic pain set the two nations on a path that ultimately led to Thursday’s meeting and an agreement by both sides to de-escalate.

The US has cut tariffs while China has eased access to critical minerals and pledged to resume imports of US agricultural products and increase purchases of US oil and gas.

While it may not have been a breakthrough, it was an acknowledgment on both sides that the status quo was unsustainable.

The international order that will take its place, however, is far from clear. As Xi acknowledged in his opening remarks at the bilateral meeting, China and the US “don’t always see eye to eye.”

“It’s normal for the world’s two leading economies to have friction from time to time,” he said.

This may represent an improved outlook after months of strain, but it is also a sign that “frictions” will remain.

China has global and regional ambitions and a growing desire to expand its influence.

Trump, for his part, has sought to reorder American priorities abroad, using U.S. economic power to pressure allies and adversaries alike. And it is precisely those American allies—nations like Japan and South Korea that have long relied on American political, economic, and military support—that are struggling to adjust to the new reality.

Part of that jostling comes in the form of a willingness to get along with Trump in ways big and small. Gifts and honors at dinner are easy, but multibillion-dollar payments, increased military spending and fixed tariffs take their toll.

And ultimately, they could prompt a reassessment of relations with America—and, as a result, with China.

Trump may have received a royal welcome in South Korea, but in what could be seen as symbolic of the moment he was leaving, Xi was arriving. And the Chinese leader’s Korean hosts had promised a diplomatic reception equal to that received by the Americans.

Xi participated fully in the APEC leaders’ meetings, proceedings that Trump chose to skip. If there is a vacuum created by America’s international maneuvering, it is one that China seems more than ready to fill.

Trump can go back to America with anything he wanted from this trip. But in a twist to the Rolling Stones song he’s been playing at his political rallies, it’s still unclear if he got what America needs.