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

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend 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 trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

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

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."