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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Scottish minister.

Significant Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously official, pointing out that the US president held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

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

Complex Security Mission

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

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

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."