Exclusive:Revealed: Multi-million pound bill for Donald Trump's Scotland visit as US president's hotels receive payments
The payments linked to Donald Trump’s Scotland visit have been described as ‘shocking’ by ethics group
American taxpayers incurred a bill of nearly £2.8 million to cover the costs of US Secret Service agents tasked with protecting Donald Trump during his visit to Scotland earlier this year, with the US president’s properties receiving tens of thousands of pounds, The Scotsman can reveal.
This summer’s high-profile visit by Mr Trump to his golf resorts in his mother’s homeland sparked one of the biggest security operations seen in modern-day Scotland. A significant Secret Service presence oversaw the trip, backed by more than 7,300 police officers from across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Until now, the cost of the four-day visit to the US public purse has been the subject of speculation. But official spending records released by the US Department of Homeland Security following a Freedom of Information request by this newspaper show the Secret Service alone spent $3,723,945 [£2.77m].
The total includes some $53,108 [£39,540] that went directly to Mr Trump’s flagship international golf resort at Turnberry and his inaugural Scottish property near Balmedie. The accommodation costs add to a running total that has seen Mr Trump’s Scottish firms receive several hundred thousand pounds from his own government since he was elected to serve his first term in office.
The overall cost of July’s itinerary is the single biggest outlay by the Secret Service for any trip to Scotland by Mr Trump or his adult children. The visit has sparked renewed criticism of the blurred lines between his public office and his private business interests.
A leading US ethics group described the sum received by Mr Trump’s companies as “shocking” and said he should not be profiting from the protection afforded to him by Secret Service agents.
In what was described by the White House at the time as a “working trip”, Mr Trump visited both his properties in July. He headed to Turnberry first, where he played golf at the resort’s famous Ailsa course, before holding bilateral talks with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and striking a trade deal with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission.
The 79-year-old then headed to the north east, where he met with First Minister John Swinney, before wielding a pair of golden scissors to officially open a second golf course at his Aberdeenshire property in front of invited VIPs. Hundreds of protesters staged demonstrations in Aberdeen and Edinburgh during the trip.
In a sign of the vast scale of the security operation for Mr Trump’s visit, the spending records show the Secret Service ran up more than $1.25m [£930,000] in accommodation costs at 18 different hotels throughout Scotland and London over the course of the five days.
The US federal government agency spent $48,040 at Trump Turnberry, according to what is known as a foreign protective travel cost tracking worksheet. A further $5,067 went to Trump International Scotland.
Jordan Libowitz, from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a US ethics watchdog, said: “In a time of austerity for the American government, when skyrocketing prices are making groceries and healthcare unaffordable for many, it's shocking to see $50,000 from American taxpayers end up in the president's pocket as he ventured out on a personal business trip.
“There's no reason he could not have waived the fees or had his business cover them. The Secret Service should absolutely be protecting him, but he should not be profiting off that protection.”
Other hotels used by the Secret Service included the Marriot, Hilton, Radisson Blue, DoubleTree Grand Central, Voco Grand Central, and Westerwood hotels in Glasgow, as well as the W Hotel in Edinburgh. Contingents from the US agency also stayed at Hilton, Crown Plaza, and Holiday Inn hotels in and around Aberdeen city centre.
The Secret Service also ran up a bill of more than $71,400 at Cameron House on the banks of Loch Lomond. It also spent close to $40,000 on accommodation at Carnell Estate, the upmarket getaway near Hurlford in East Ayrshire, where US vice-president JD Vance visited in August. Further afield, nearly $7,900 was incurred for self-catering accommodation at a whisky distillery near East Kilbride
It represents the second tranche of significant payments received by the Trump Organisation’s Scottish resorts in connection with visits by the Trump family this year. Last month, Scotland on Sunday revealed Mr Trump’s properties received more than £20,000 for accommodation for Secret Service agents tasked with protecting his son, Eric.
The total sum received by Mr Trump’s properties for his July trip eclipses the amount they received during his previous visit to Scotland in May 2023, when Turnberry received $22,917 to cover Secret Service accommodations costs, with Trump International Scotland receiving $2,609. The outlay also outstrips the $950,000 spent by the Secret Service during Mr Trump’s visit to Scotland in 2018, although that trip only took in Turnberry and lasted for just two days.
Another FOI request by Scotland on Sunday to the Ministry of Defence shows the Royal Navy incurred costs of £2,800 for Mr Trump’s visit. Police Scotland said details of what it spent on a security operation - a sum expected to run into several million pounds - will not be available until the end of October.
In a statement, an official for the US Secret Service said: “The US Secret Service's protective responsibilities are critical to ensuring the safety and security of our nation’s leadership and safeguarding continuity of government.
“All expenditures associated with our protective operations are made in accordance with federal spending and procurement regulations. While we strive to be good stewards of taxpayer funds, we will never compromise the safety of our protectees. For operational security reasons, we are not able to discuss the specific resources or costs used to conduct our protective operations.”
The Trump Organisation did not respond to a request for comment.
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