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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly official, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."