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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling nearly £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."