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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."