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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

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

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex 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, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

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

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."