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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

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

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."