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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously official, noting that the US president held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for costs accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

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

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."