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

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the death 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: "After your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."