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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both trips were obviously official, noting that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around four days in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration stated that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."