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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced past instances where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it included security costs 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 the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."