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

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."