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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly official, pointing out 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 July visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the British administration reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."