🔗 Share this article

The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and JD Vance to Scotland, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Substantial Provisional Costs Revealed

Preliminary costs amounting to nearly £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July visit in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

Donald Trump visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day trip in July, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in Ayrshire in August.

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 the Scottish police force."

The Scottish government calculates that the provisional cost for policing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in relation to the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this decision and provide complete repayment for the expense of the visits."

Westminster Response and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country 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 trip came after a official UK government invitation, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a personal vacation."