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

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."