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Taking action reminiscent of fictional guards, Denmark's foreign affairs department has initiated a night watch unit—far from to fend off fantasy foes, but to track the US president while Copenhagen is asleep.

This night watch begins at 5pm local time each day and concludes with a report produced at 7 a.m., which is then distributed across government departments and relevant agencies covering statements made and events that occurred.

The role is believed to have been established following the diplomatic row between Copenhagen and the US over Greenland this spring, when the American leader threatened taking control of the resource-rich territory.

Analysts point out that this measure is one of multiple examples of how Danish diplomacy and its civil service have had to adjust to the new reality of the second Trump administration.

A source familiar with the foreign office remarked, “It is fair to say that the circumstances in the region and the time zone gap between Copenhagen and the US were quite an important reason prompting this arrangement during the spring.”

Rather than everybody needing to immediately reach for their devices to catch up on updates from the US, the foreign office explained it had made a coordinated approach to stay updated on Trump activities.

Jacob Kaarsbo, a former senior analyst at the Danish defence intelligence agency, stated that this move demonstrated, “as we have always known,” that the idea of the United States as Denmark’s primary partner was no longer valid. “Alliances are founded on common values and a mutual view of threats,” Kaarsbo said. “Trump shares neither of those with Denmark and it can be said he lacks it with most Europeans.”