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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m cost incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously official, pointing out that the American leader 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.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

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

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the biggest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for costs accrued in relation to the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the British administration covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially 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 stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."