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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to almost £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."