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The UK government is being urged to "step up" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional costs amounting to nearly £24.5m for the pair of official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," arguing that both trips were clearly 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 summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison wrote that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

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

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for costs incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that visit followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs 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 prime minister Sir Keir spending time with the president, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."