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

Substantial Provisional Costs Disclosed

Provisional expenses totalling nearly £24.5m for the pair of working visits have been published by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's refusal to offer financial support as "ridiculous," stating that both trips were clearly official, pointing out that the American leader held meetings with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer visit in Scotland.

Particulars of the Visits and Related Policing Costs

The former president toured his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie over a week-long period in July, while American VP Vance spent around a long weekend in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury minister Chief Secretary Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary wrote that the trips placed "substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, especially Police Scotland."

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

Complex Policing Operation

This extensive security mission was the largest in Scotland since the passing of the late Queen in 2022, and included regional police, national divisions, special constables and officers from across the UK for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your choice not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the visit of Donald Trump to the nation in summer 2025 and the following visit of VP JD Vance, I am contacting you to ask that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the cost of the trips."

UK Government Response and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the visits were personal 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 UK government covered the cost of the president's 2018 trip to the nation, it is understood that trip came after a formal UK government invitation, in which case it covered security costs under its funding guidelines.

"The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Especially when you have the PM Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, engaging in global diplomacy with him, its really hard to believe to say this was just a private holiday trip."