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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 former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support 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 summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with the president, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."