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The UK government 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 Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."