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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

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

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs accrued in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."