President Trump’s recent five-day tour across Asia was a spectacle brimming with elements he clearly relished.
The trip featured everything from Lee Greenwood music blaring at an aircraft carrier rally to being treated as the ultimate guest of honor everywhere he went. He even returned home with a replica of an ancient golden crown.
Far from the “No Kings” movement gaining traction back in the United States, Mr. Trump experienced a week of royal treatment. For nearly seven days, he was revered almost as a monarch.
While President Trump is known for his unconventional style, in one aspect he mirrored his predecessors: using an international trip as a vital boost for his energy and ego, a temporary respite from domestic turmoil. Leaders across Asia seemed to intuitively understand how to flatter him, offering elaborate drum ceremonies, golf outings, honorary medals, and even simple beef patties with ketchup.
Reflecting on an elaborate welcome in South Korea, complete with drummers and sword-wielding soldiers, Mr. Trump remarked, “Driving up in the Beast, the limo, with those very powerful people carrying very vicious-looking weapons, it was something. I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like that.”
However, his journey through Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea — culminating in a significant meeting with China’s Xi Jinping — wasn’t solely about grand gestures and personal indulgences. President Trump consciously tailored his persona, acting as a statesman, a showman, or a traveling salesman, depending on who he was addressing.
Addressing Asian leaders in Gyeongju, South Korea, Mr. Trump declared his administration eager for business, promising to streamline regulations for foreign investment. “We’re sort of cleaning up the books,” he stated.
Embodying his transactional approach honed as a real estate developer, Mr. Trump secured several deals during the trip. These included new commitments to invest in American companies and concessions gained by reducing previously threatened high tariffs on Japan, South Korea, and China – outcomes he proudly hailed as victories.
On his return flight aboard Air Force One, Mr. Trump expressed visible relief over an agreement with China to halt planned restrictions on rare earths—critical materials for everything from computers to fighter jets.
“China, that whole situation, that roadblock is gone now, there’s no roadblock at all on rare earth,” Mr. Trump declared, adding, “It will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary.”
However, many of these “new” announcements were, in fact, reconfirmations of previously established understandings.
Occasionally, host nations catered to Mr. Trump’s aspirations for major peace initiatives. During the ceremonial signing of an agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, the Cambodian prime minister even announced his nomination of Mr. Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Throughout the visit, it was evident that both Mr. Trump and his team sought opportunities to bask in the warm reception of countries whose leaders appeared to appreciate, if not fully endorse, his hardline policies.
A notable moment occurred during a refueling stop when Qatar’s emir and prime minister visited Air Force One. In the aircraft’s conference room, with a UFC fight playing in the background, the Middle Eastern leaders conveyed that they simply couldn’t be in the same country as Mr. Trump without paying their respects.
Later, as the presidential plane headed to Japan, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined him to brief reporters.
“Where is he?” Mr. Trump inquired, summoning the secretary. “He’s right here, the handsome guy behind me,” he added with a smile.
After Secretary Bessent detailed the tariffs, trade, and agricultural discussions he’d held with his Chinese counterparts in preparation for Mr. Trump’s meeting with Mr. Xi, the President confidently proclaimed, “We feel good.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was seen smiling and posing for photographs at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared stunning views of the Tokyo skyline on her Instagram. To ensure journalists saw the “tremendous” coverage, Mr. Trump even had a stack of international newspapers delivered to the Air Force One press cabin, according to Ms. Leavitt.
This overwhelmingly positive atmosphere kept Mr. Trump in a magnanimous mood throughout the entire trip. His well-publicized dispute with Canada over a particular television advertisement seemed a distant memory in Gyeongju, where he shared a dinner table with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Mr. Trump, smiling, recounted a past trip to New Zealand to Mr. Carney and other leaders, later describing their exchange as a “very nice conversation.”
Upon landing back on American soil Thursday afternoon, the president descended the steps of Air Force One, entered his motorcade, and immediately re-entered the realm of partisan gridlock and a looming government shutdown.
Yet, the memories of the journey lingered. As the presidential motorcade pulled away, aides were observed grappling with a heavy, gold-wrapped box down the rear stairs of Air Force One—a box roughly the size of the new crown he had received.