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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a five-day trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."