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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

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

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that trip came after a formal UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."