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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary 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 securing the president's trip by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "After your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a official UK government invitation, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."