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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

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

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."