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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling almost £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been published by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," stating that both visits were obviously official, noting that the American leader held discussions with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the provisional cost for securing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses accrued in relation to the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to ask that you review this stance and offer full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

Westminster Response and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."