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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 former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

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

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

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

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

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time 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."