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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per established devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is understood that trip followed a formal UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

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