The Danish government Sets Up Nighttime Monitoring System to Observe President Trump After Arctic Dispute
Taking action inspired by TV series watches, Denmark's foreign affairs department has created a nighttime monitoring unit—not to fend off fantasy foes, but to monitor the US president while Copenhagen is asleep.
The night monitoring begins at 5pm local time daily and ends with a report compiled at 7 a.m., which is then distributed across government departments and concerned agencies detailing what was said and developments taking place.
The role is understood to have been introduced in the wake of the diplomatic dispute involving Copenhagen and Washington over the Arctic island this spring, when the US president threatened acquiring control of the strategic territory.
Observers point out that this initiative is one of several examples of how Denmark's foreign policy and its civil service have had to adapt to the changed landscape of the second Trump administration.
An insider familiar with the foreign office remarked, “It is fair to say that the circumstances in the region and the time zone gap separating Denmark and the US were quite an important factor prompting this arrangement during the earlier months.”
Instead of all staff needing to promptly reach for their phones to catch up on news from the US, the foreign office explained it had made a collective effort to stay updated on the president's actions.
An expert, a ex- chief analyst at the Danish defence intelligence agency, stated that this move showed, “as we have always known,” that the idea of the US as Denmark’s primary partner was no longer valid. “Partnerships are built on shared principles and a mutual view of threats,” Kaarsbo said. “The president lacks both of those with us and it can be said he lacks it with the majority of Europe.”
