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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent trips by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a work visit … Especially when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."