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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

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

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."