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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances 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 covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."