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

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly official, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Security Expenses

The former president visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly 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 more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, national divisions, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this stance and offer complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in the country as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a work visit … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with him, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."