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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary 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 Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."