the.com/velvet glove

means A gentle, courteous, or diplomatic manner used to disguise or deliver firm, even ruthless, power or intent.

from Shorthand from the old phrase 'an iron hand (or fist) in a velvet glove' — the image of a weapon dressed in softness. The pairing has circulated since at least the 1700s as a way to describe rulers and tactics that combine real force with a courteous, gentle surface; it's often loosely credited to political writing of that era, though the image itself is older and simpler than any one coiner — iron for the threat, velvet for the manners that keep you from noticing it right away.