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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the visits were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."