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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during recent trips by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly official, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

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

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that trip came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."