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In Donald Trump's first term, governments around the world braced for his morning social media posts. What policy would change, what insult would be thrown? Four years later, diplomats are "trembling" again when the sun rises on America's east coast.
At that time, they learned to take Trump - as the saying goes - "seriously, but not literally". Despite many campaign promises, he did not pull the US out of NATO or shut down Hilary Clinton. But can the ministers stay so sanguine a second time?
Trump's latest morning revelation criticized the UK government's decision to raise taxes on oil and gas firms working in the North Sea, in part to help finance renewable energy.
On his platform, Truth Social, Trump responded to a report about a US oil firm pulling out of the region, saying: “The UK is making a very big mistake. Open the North Sea. Get rid of the Windmills!”
Was this just a popular defense of an American firm by Trump and a reiteration of his pro-fossil fuel instincts? Or was it evidence of a greater willingness by the president-elect to meddle in the domestic politics of an ally?
The main difference – four years later – is that Trump is no longer alone at the keyboard; His increasingly powerful fellow traveler, Elon Musk, is even more prolific, using his platform, X, to attack the British government across the board. He has criticized the handling of last summer's riots, the direction of the economy and now especially the stance on child abuse scandals.
Musk has launched a series of tweets personally attacking Keir Starmer, accusing the prime minister of not doing enough to prosecute child gangs while he was director of public prosecutions.
British politicians cannot block these posts from across the Atlantic. But they can control their reaction. During Trump's first term, governments — and news desks — learned to pause and take a moment before responding to — or reporting on — the latest White House emails.
But conservatives took issue with Musk's apparent support for jailed far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
Musk has shared several posts on X calling for the release of Yaxley-Lennon, who was jailed in October after pleading guilty to contempt of court by making false allegations against a Syrian refugee.
Alicia Kearns, the Conservative shadow defense minister, said it was "frankly dangerous" for Musk to "lionize people like Tommy Robinson".
As for Labour, it appears keen to avoid a row with one of the world's richest men, who could one day fund a rival political party. Nigel Farage's Reform Party has said Musk is among "a number of billionaires" interested in donating money to their campaigns.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Musk's comments about the child care scandals were "misjudged and certainly misinformed" but urged the billionaire to work with the UK government to tackle online child abuse.
UK politicians aren't the only ones being targeted by Musk's increasingly eccentric interventions. He has described Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany as a "fool" and the country's head of state, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as "an anti-democratic tyrant". He also called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "an insufferable tool" who "won't be in power much longer."
Close monitoring
So the challenge once again for politicians in Britain and around the world is to determine which, if any, of these social media outbursts and intrusions merit a response.
In Whitehall, there is some hope that the arrival of Lord Mandelson as the new British ambassador could help stem the flow of personal animosity across the Atlantic.
There is also weight given to Trump's love of the United Kingdom and the Royal Family; he had a good meeting with the Prince of Wales in Paris in December after the opening of Notre Dame.
Other officials are even thinking that the relationship between Trump and Musk could prove very combustible in office.
But for now, officials are closely monitoring their timelines. American social media diplomacy is back, and some of it is headed our way.
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