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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

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

While Robison referenced past instances where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."