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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling 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 trips were obviously official, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period in July, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in relation to the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance 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 … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."