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

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

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

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."