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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

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

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

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

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

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

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that visit followed a official UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."