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The UK government is being called upon to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million expense incurred during the recent trips by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee labeled the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Related Policing Costs

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the visits placed "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration estimates that the estimated expense for policing the presidential visit by itself was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit 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 regional police, 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 connection with the visit of Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the following trip of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were personal and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson added: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison pointed to past instances 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 security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a work visit … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with the president, having press conferences with him, engaging in global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."