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

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."