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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period 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 Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

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

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses accrued in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

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

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with the president, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."