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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the US president held discussions 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 Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."