🔗 Share this article

The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary costs amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both trips were obviously official, noting that the US president held meetings with European Union chief the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July stay in Scotland.

Details of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day trip in July, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the visits placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of more than 4,000 officers, while costs for the VP's visit were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of VP JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this stance and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative commented: "The Scottish government must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While the Finance Secretary referenced past instances where the UK government reimbursed the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster needs to step up and cover the cost. 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, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."