Overview
- Finance Secretary Shona Robison has formally asked Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray to reimburse about £26 million tied to security for the July and August trips.
- The Treasury says it will not pay, arguing the visits were not official UK government business and that it only reimburses when London issues a formal invitation.
- Scottish ministers say the trips were diplomatically significant, noting meetings in Scotland between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.
- Police Scotland mounted one of its largest recent operations, with peak daily deployments above 4,000 officers and provisional costings published at roughly £21 million for the president’s visit and about £3 million for the vice president’s trip.
- Edinburgh cites the UK’s reimbursement for Trump’s 2018 Scotland visit as precedent, but the dispute over this summer’s bill remains unresolved.