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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly official, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

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 Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."