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The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "absurd," stating that both trips were clearly official, noting that the American leader held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long period in the summer, while American VP JD Vance spent around 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 wrote that the visits placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip alone was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for security expenses in the country as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary referenced previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland, it is understood that trip came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in international business with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."