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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both visits were obviously official, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

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

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."