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

Significant Estimated Expenses Disclosed

Provisional costs totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of official trips have been made public by the administration in Edinburgh.

Ivan McKee labeled the Westminster's refusal to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly work-related, noting that the American leader held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and British PM Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Details of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

Donald Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long trip in the summer, while US vice-president JD Vance spent around four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister James Murray, Finance Secretary Shona Robison stated that the visits placed "significant strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly Police Scotland."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the estimated expense for policing the president's trip alone was £21 million, which involved peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while expenses for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in the country since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and involved local officers, specialist units, volunteer officers and wider UK colleagues for expert assistance.

Robison stated: "Following your decision not to provide funding to the Scottish government for costs accrued in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent trip of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this stance and provide complete repayment for the cost of the visits."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The UK government maintained that the trips were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood are responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While Robison pointed to previous precedent where the British administration covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is believed that visit followed a official UK government invitation, in which instance it covered security costs under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was merely a personal vacation."