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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the two working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated 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 presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."