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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 Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary costs totalling nearly £24.5 million for the two official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which involved maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following trip of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and provide complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is believed that visit came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."