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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."