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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held meetings 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 trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

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

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the UK government covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."