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

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

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

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

Complex Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs incurred in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

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

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."