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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

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

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."