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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional costs totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."