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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

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

In a written communication 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 Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."