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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

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 invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."