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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously 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 July stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established 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 followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."