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

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the American leader 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 Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."