“The state of the union is strong” is a perfectly fine cliche for presidents, but the idea of strength has extra meaning today. In his first State of the Union address, President Trump tried to give good depth to that idea.

During his campaign, Trump occasionally invoked the idea of strength in an ugly way, praising strongmen such as presidents Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and Vladimir Putin of Russia as “strong” leaders. Even as president, Trump’s attitude towards Turkey and Russia exuded an uncomfortable coziness towards authoritarian strength.