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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously official, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and provide complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster 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 meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."