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If the primary purpose of Trump's visits to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines was to shore up relations with those countries and their leaders, the trip can be judged a success, even though actual policy wins were in scant supply.
Trump's apparent ease at doing business overseas -- in keeping with the image of an international deal maker he promoted during the campaign -- was established during his first foreign trip, to Saudi Arabia, in May. In Riyadh, he basked in the admiration of Saudi princes and enjoyed lavish entertainment.
His Asian hosts appeared to be running the Saudi playbook, greeting Trump with elaborate ceremonies and parades, and heaping praise on him during joint press conferences.
Even North Korea seemed to play along, issuing angry denouncements of Trump at multiple stages of the trip, but refraining from any missile or nuclear testing while he was in Asia.
"It was a pretty low bar, but he stuck to the script in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing," said William Choong, senior fellow for Asia-Pacific security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
"He didn't go over the top on calling Kim Jong Un names (and there) were no major controversies or problems."
But Choong added there were still deep doubts in the region about Trump's actual policies and commitment, particularly on the economic and trade front.
Closer and closer ties
But in a news conference with Moon last week, Trump seemed to have taken on some of his host's more conciliatory language, saying he really believes "that it makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that's good for the people of North Korea and the people of the world."
Trump's language on how Beijing should act to rein in North Korea was softer than it had been in the past, with him saying he was "calling on China and your great President to hopefully work on it very hard."
"The Japanese are probably first in class in (handling Trump)," said IISS' Choong. "Flatter him, while at the same time distract him or pull him away from any deliberations on more serious matters."
But while his protectionist views may have disconcerted some of his hosts, he avoided criticizing them, instead focusing on previous US administrations.
"The current trade imbalance is not acceptable," Trump said. "I do not blame China, or any other country, of which there are many, for taking advantage of the United States on trade. If their representatives are able to get away with it, they are just doing their jobs."
He promised to "make bilateral trade agreements with any Indo-Pacific nation that wants to be our partner and that will abide by the principles of fair and reciprocal trade."
But Choong said that message was less well received in a region still smarting at the loss of TPP. "Making America great again does not go down well in this region," he said.
Champa Patel, head of UK think thank Chatham House's Asia Program, said Trump's trade talk will play well to his base in the US, "but is there any guarantee that there will be a balanced trade relationship with China, for example, as a result of this visit?"
North Korea
This prediction proved largely correct, and North Korea dominated the first week of Trump's time in Asia. Both Abe and Moon offered support for Trump's approach on Pyongyang, and in Beijing, Xi reiterated Chinese commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Trump did not refrain from tough talk on North Korea -- warning leader Kim Jong Un in a speech to South Korea's parliament that "the weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer, they are putting your regime in grave danger" -- but he did not stray into the personal insults and threats he has adopted in the past.
"Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend -- and maybe someday that will happen!" he tweeted.
Despite this, he again left the door open for negotiations at some point in the future, telling reporters in Da Nang, Vietnam on Sunday that meeting Kim "would be a good thing ... for North Korea ... and it would be good for the world."
Trump's rhetoric on North Korea may have been tempered by Pyongyang's own apparent restraint during his Asia trip.
Russia woes
Though he walked his comments back somewhat -- Trump said he believes "very much in our intelligence agencies" -- he reiterated his opinion that the whole scandal has been "set up by the Democrats" to distract from their electoral loss.
The ongoing Russia investigation, Zelizer added, was one of many issues causing Trump's poor opinion polling, and he warned his lack of support at home could undermine any successes overseas.
"When (foreign leaders) look at the news in the United States they see a greatly weakened President who will probably not have the capacity to deliver on many things or to rally the support of the nation behind any military or diplomatic initiative," he said.