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The British administration is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both visits were clearly official, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for policing 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.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest 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 specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government 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 pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a personal vacation."