The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.
Preliminary expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.
Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.
Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.
In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."
The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.
This extensive policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.
The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."
The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."
While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that trip came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its funding guidelines.
"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."
Elara is a financial strategist with over a decade of experience in wealth management and entrepreneurship.
