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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary costs amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day trip in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Complex Security Mission

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

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to 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 formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."