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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This complex security mission was the largest in the country since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."