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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," 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 Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs 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 maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."