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The British administration is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

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

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

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

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with the president, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."