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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously official, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."