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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were obviously official, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

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

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."