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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

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

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

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

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir 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 just a private holiday trip."