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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."