🔗 Share this article

The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a senior Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "absurd," arguing that both visits were obviously official, pointing out that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his July stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Visits and Associated Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president Vance spent around a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in August.

In a written communication to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the president's trip by itself was £21 million, which reflected maximum daily assignments of over four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were about £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, national divisions, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for expert assistance.

The Finance Secretary stated: "After your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President Vance, I am writing you to request that you reconsider this stance and offer full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A representative added: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per established funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to past instances where the British administration reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to Scotland, it is believed that visit followed a formal invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"Westminster 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 them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."