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

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement 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 spokesperson added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

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

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."