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

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it included security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."