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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs totalling almost £24.5m for the two official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained 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 previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."