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The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Scottish minister.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses amounting to almost £24.5m for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's refusal to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This complex security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover policing costs in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced past instances where the British administration reimbursed the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."