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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

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

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."