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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" 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 senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional costs amounting to almost £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly official, noting that the American leader 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

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs incurred in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included security costs 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 Sir Keir meeting with the president, having press conferences with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."