British and Scottish government Governments Disagree Over Who Should Pay the £24.5 million Cost for Trump and JD Vance Visits

The UK government is being called upon to "take responsibility" and cover the £24.5 million expense incurred during recent visits by Donald Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Provisional Costs Disclosed

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

Public Finance Minister McKee described the UK government's unwillingness to offer financial support as "ridiculous," arguing that both visits were clearly official, pointing out that the US president held discussions with European Union chief 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 Related Security Expenses

Donald Trump toured his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a five-day period in July, while American VP JD Vance spent approximately four days in Ayrshire 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 "substantial strains and costs on public services in Scotland, particularly the Scottish police force."

The Edinburgh administration calculates that the provisional cost for securing the presidential visit by itself was £21m, which involved maximum daily assignments of more than four thousand police, while costs for the VP's visit were about £3 million.

Large-Scale Security Mission

This complex policing operation was the biggest in Scotland since the death of the late Queen in 2022, and included local officers, specialist units, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

The Finance Secretary wrote: "Following your choice not to offer financial support to the Scottish government for costs incurred in connection with the trip of Donald Trump to Scotland in July 2025 and the following visit of VP Vance, I am contacting you to request that you reconsider this decision and offer complete repayment for the expense of the trips."

UK Government Reply and Past Precedent

The UK government stated that the visits were private and "not official UK government business." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover security expenses in Scotland as per agreed funding agreements for devolved matters."

While the Finance Secretary pointed to previous precedent where the UK government covered the expense of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip came after a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it covered protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"The UK government must take action and pay. I think it’s unreasonable, it was clearly a official trip … Particularly when you have the PM Keir Starmer meeting with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip."