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The British administration is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously work-related, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president 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 toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Complex Policing Operation

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

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your decision not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that visit followed a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."