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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire 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, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

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 local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

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

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered 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 … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."