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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5m expense incurred during the recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

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

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were obviously official, pointing out 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 summer visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Associated Policing Costs

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long period in July, while American VP Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses accrued in connection with the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood must cover 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 believed that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."