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

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a five-day period in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip alone was £21m, 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 complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."