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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs amounting to almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously official, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while US vice-president Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

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

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

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."