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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly official, noting that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day trip in July, while US vice-president Vance spent around 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 visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, 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 international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."