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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

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

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."