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In a move reminiscent of fictional watches, the Danish foreign affairs department has initiated a nighttime monitoring team—not guarding against mythical foes, but to monitor the US president as Copenhagen is asleep.

This night watch starts at 5pm local time daily and concludes with a summary compiled at 7am, which is then circulated across government departments and relevant offices covering statements made and developments taking place.

The role is believed to have been introduced in the wake of the diplomatic row involving Copenhagen and Washington regarding the Arctic island earlier this year, when the US president threatened taking control of the resource-rich island.

Analysts point out that this measure is one of multiple instances of how Danish diplomacy and its civil service have had to adapt to the new reality of the Trump's current term.

An insider familiar with the ministry remarked, “It is fair to say that the circumstances in the region and the time zone gap separating Copenhagen and the US was a significant factor introducing this system in the earlier months.”

Rather than everybody having to promptly reach for their phones to catch up on updates from the US, the ministry explained it had undertaken a coordinated approach to remain informed on the president's actions.

An expert, a former chief analyst at the Danish defence intelligence agency, commented that this move demonstrated, “as we have always known,” that the notion of the US as Denmark’s primary partner was no longer valid. “Alliances are founded on shared principles and a mutual view of threats,” Kaarsbo said. “The president shares neither of those with us and I would argue he lacks it with most Europeans.”