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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."