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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 JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional expenses 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 UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly official, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost 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 about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."