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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this decision and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."