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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs accrued in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison referenced past instances where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."