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

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously official, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that visit came after a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

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