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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in July, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a private holiday trip."