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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the two official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

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

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

Large-Scale Security Mission

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

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with the president, having press conferences with them, engaging in international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."