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The UK government is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m expense incurred during recent visits by former President Trump and Vice-President Vance to Scotland, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5 million for the pair of working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the UK government's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both visits were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British PM Sir Keir Starmer during his July visit in the northern nation.

Details of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

The former president toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while US vice-president Vance spent approximately a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a written communication to the Treasury’s chief secretary Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "significant operational and financial burdens on public services in Scotland, especially Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over 4,000 officers, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Complex Security Mission

This extensive policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, specialist units, volunteer officers and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to the Scottish government for expenses incurred in relation to the visit of President Donald Trump to the nation in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "The Scottish government are responsible for security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

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

"Westminster needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was obviously a official trip … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with them, conducting global diplomacy with them, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a personal vacation."