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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to offer financial support to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."