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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this decision and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply 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 policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with the president, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."