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

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5m for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

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

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."