🔗 Share this article

The British administration is being urged to "step up" and reimburse the £24.5 million cost incurred during recent trips by Donald Trump and Vice-President Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Scottish minister.

Substantial Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Preliminary expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the two official trips have been made public by the Scottish government.

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously official, noting that the US president held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Policing Costs

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

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, especially the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which involved peak daily deployments of more than four thousand police, while expenses for the VP's visit were approximately £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive security mission was the biggest in the country since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison stated: "After your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you review this stance and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were personal and "not official UK government business." 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 British administration reimbursed the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit came after a formal invitation from Westminster, in which instance it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."