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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 Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial 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 involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

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

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit followed a formal 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 PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."