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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses accrued in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."