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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."