Scottish government wants $35 million reimbursement for Trump, Vance visits

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Oct 22, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Scotland’s finance secretary is asking the United Kingdom for a $35 million reimbursement following visits from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Secretary Shona Robison said in a letter that Scotland incurred “substantial operational and financial burdens” that impacted public services as a result of those visits. That included the deployment of 4,000 total officers when Trump visited the country in July, followed by Vance’s stay in August, according to the Independent.

Trump spent four days in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, where he owns golf courses. Vance spent nearly the same amount of time in Ayrshire and golfed on the president’s greens at Trump Turnberry. The visits reportedly cost roughly $26.7 million and $8 million, respectively.

The U.K. said Trump and Vance’s visits didn’t constitute “UK Government business,” which puts Scotland on the hook for security expenses.

Scotland contends the visits were “diplomatically significant” and therefore require compensation.

“I am writing to you to request that you reconsider this decision and provide full reimbursement for the cost of the visits,” Robison wrote to her U.K. counterpart.

She argues that picking up the tab for Trump and Vance’s trips would put a strain on Scottish resources. Officials there expect the matter to be further negotiated.

“We love Scotland,” Trump told onlookers in July when he cut the ribbon opening his course in Aberdeenshire while flanked by his sons Eric and Donald Jr.

The president’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in Scotland in 1912. She came to the U.S. in 1929 and was made a citizen in 1942. MacLeod was a native Gaelic speaker who learned English as a second language, according to NPR.

______