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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously official, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."