🔗 Share this article

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

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly work-related, pointing out that the US president held meetings with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

Donald Trump toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry and Menie over a week-long trip in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were about £3m.

Complex Policing Operation

This complex policing operation was the biggest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to Scotland for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you review this decision and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the visits."

Westminster Reply and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." A representative commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which instance it included protection expenses under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer spending time with the president, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in international business with them, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."