Scottish Public Money: UK Government Must Pay for Trump’s Visit to Scotland

Scottish Public money is not for Trump’s fun. Scotland demands £24.5m from Westminster for Trump and Vance visits. Trump visited his golfing resorts for five days, while the US vice-president, JD Vance, spent about four days in Ayrshire.

A UK government spokesperson said these were private visits by the president and vice president to Scotland. They are not official UK government businesses. The Scottish Government is responsible for policing costs in Scotland according to the agreed devolved funding arrangements.

Scottish Public Money: UK Government Must Pay for Trump’s Visit

Scotland wants £24.5 million from Westminster. The demand is to support Scottish public money for Trump and Vance’s visits. However, the Treasury does not wish to open its wallet. Treasury says trips were private. However, Scottish ministers point out that the US president met Keir Starmer and had to provide extra funding for policing. The UK government needs to step up its efforts.

It must pay back the £24.5m cost of Donald Trump and JD Vance’s recent visits to Scotland. The Scottish Government has published provisional costs of almost £24.5m for the two working visits. Scottish Minister for Public Finance Ivan McKee said it was ridiculous that the UK government had so far refused to provide funding. The Government is framing both trips as private visits. However, the US president held meetings with the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Keir Starmer in Scotland in July.

Financial Burdens on Scotland for Trump to Have Fun

Trump visited his golfing resorts at Turnberry in Ayrshire and Menie in Aberdeenshire during a five-day trip in July. Moreover, the US vice-president, JD Vance, spent about four days in Ayrshire in August. Scotland’s Finance Secretary Shona Robison also wants Whitehall to pay £6 million for policing Vance’s holiday in Ayrshire in August. Shona Robison, wrote a letter to James Murray, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She stated that the visit imposed substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services, particularly on Police Scotland.

The Scottish Government estimates that the provisional cost of policing the presidential visit alone was £21 million, drawn from Scottish public money. It reflects peak daily deployments of more than 4,000 officers, while the costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3 million.

Policing Budget for Scotland: Financial Benefits for the UK

The complex policing operation was the largest in Scotland since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. It included local officers, national divisions, special constables, and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison wrote a letter following the UK decision not to provide funding to Scotland for the costs of President Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland in July 2025 and the subsequent visit of Vice-President JD Vance.  She requested that this decision be reconsidered and that full reimbursement be provided for the cost of the visits.

UK Government Must Compensate Scottish Public Money

The UK government believes the visit has a private nature. Moreover, it is not the official business of the UK government. The Scottish Government must provide funding for policing in Scotland. It should be done in accordance with devolved funding arrangements. Robison pointed to a previous precedent when the UK government reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to Scotland 2018.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Ivan McKee said: “The UK government needs to step up and pay. I think it’s ridiculous, it was clearly a work visit … Particularly when you have the prime minister Keir Starmer spending time with Donald Trump, having press conferences with them, conducting international business with them, it’s really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was just a private holiday trip.”

No Formal Invitations, No Money: The UK Government Says

In a letter to Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray, Robison stated that there is a clear precedent. The UK government has supported policing costs for visits to devolved nations by foreign dignitaries.” The Treasury says it will only foot the bill when it has issued a formal invitation to the visiting leaders. Yet Robison insisted Trump’s trip was “diplomatically significant” and not covering the cost would “strain devolved budgets [and] set a troubling precedent for future high-profile visits.”

A UK government spokesperson said, “These were private visits by the president and vice president to Scotland, not official UK government business. The Scottish Government is responsible for policing costs in Scotland as per the agreed devolved funding arrangements.” Officials in Edinburgh disagree. “The visits imposed substantial operational and financial burdens on Scottish public services,” Scottish Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said. “These visits were significant in terms of UK government international relations, with the prime minister formally meeting the president during his visit in two separate locations in Scotland. The costs cannot be considered only a matter for the Scottish Government.”

Trump’s Visit Benefits Starmer: the UK Government Still Denies

Trump hosted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Turnberry, where they sealed a trade deal. The next day, he met Sir Keir Starmer. They even flew together on the president’s helicopter, Marine One, to his other golf course in Balmedie in Aberdeenshire.

First Minister John Swinney also had a FaceTime with Donald Trump, attending a dinner with the president and meeting him the following day to discuss whisky tariffs. The then-Secretary of State for Scotland, Ian Murray, greeted President Trump as he disembarked Air Force One at Prestwick Airport.

But the UK government is sticking to its position that the lack of an official invitation means the policing bill is not theirs to cover. And it is not just Scottish government ministers who are angry at how this has played out. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – which represents rank-and-file officers in Scotland – also wants the Treasury to pick up the bill. David Threadgold, Chair of the Scottish Police Federation, said Police Scotland does not have sufficient budget to cover unexpected, high-profile events like this, as well as day-to-day policing.

Scottish Public Money: No Borrowing, UK Must Provide the Fund

BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland program interviewed McKee, asking him about concerns that if the UK Government refuses to pay the bill, it may have to come out of Scotland’s policing budget. He said: “Anything like that that’s going to have a disadvantaged impact on the Scottish police service is clearly something that’s not in anybody’s interest. “This puts extra pressure; we don’t have the ability like the UK Government to simply borrow this money to be able to cover those costs. We need to allocate it from our fixed budget.

Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond, gold commander for the police operations, said: “These were significant events and the visit of the US president was one of the biggest operations in Police Scotland’s history, which took place safely without any serious disruption. “I’d like to reiterate my thanks to the public for their patience as we worked tirelessly on both operations, and the professionalism and hard work of our officers and staff who delivered while keeping communities safe across Scotland.”

Future Security Costs

International meetings involving the UK Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission are matters of international importance for the UK. Thus the UK Government has to pay these expenses. Westminster’s refusal to pay the bill is unfair and reveals a clear contradiction with its own previous policies. If a meeting with the President of the US on British soil (even in Scotland) is considered private, devolved governments may also have to pay the security costs of future visits by other world leaders. Such a policy is cruel to devolved governments, including Scotland.