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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly official, noting that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex security mission was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

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

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."