Donald Trump visit: UK agrees to cover cost of Scotland trip
Treasury will foot the £5m policing bill for the US president’s visit after pressure from Holyrood

The UK government has confirmed that it will cover the security costs of Donald Trump’s expected trip to Scotland next week.
Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, said yesterday that the UK would provide local police with “ring-fenced funding” of up to £5m if the US president travels to Scotland for a one-day visit.
The move is an attempt by Westminster to “appease Scottish anger” at Trump’s official visit to the UK on June 13, according to the Financial Times.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After meeting the Queen and Theresa May on Friday, the president is widely expected to travel north to visit one of the two golf courses he owns in Scotland on Saturday or Sunday.
The Treasury’s announcement comes after Scotland’s justice secretary, Humza Yousaf, wrote to Sajid Javid, calling on the Home Secretary to commit to reimbursing costs associated with providing security for any visit by Trump.
Yousaf praised the “U-turn” from the government. “This is a welcome decision, given that President Trump is coming to the UK on the invitation of the UK Government,” he said. “However, we should not have had to force this decision - and there should never have been an assumption that the Scottish Government would pick up the tab.”
Police Scotland estimates that Trump’s visit will cost around £5m and require more than 5,000 officers, according to STV. Interim Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said many officers would have rest days cancelled as a result.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Demonstrations are expected in cities across the UK, with tens of thousands of people expected to descend on central London to protest against the president’s trip.
Riot vans, helicopters, mounted officers, search dogs, public order units and protest removal units will join counterterrorism and specialist protection officers to guarantee Trump’s safety, The Times reports.
-
Is Kash Patel’s fate sealed after Kirk shooting missteps?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The FBI’s bungled response in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting has director Kash Patel in the hot seat
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spins
Speed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
-
Trump renews push to fire Cook before Fed meeting
Speed Read The push to remove Cook has ‘quickly become the defining battle in Trump’s effort to take control of the Fed’
-
Will Donald Trump’s second state visit be a diplomatic disaster?
Today's Big Question Charlie Kirk shooting, Saturday’s far-right rally and continued Jeffrey Epstein fallout ramps-up risks of already fraught trip
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Calls for both calm and consequences follow Kirk killing
TALKING POINTS The suspected assassination of far-right activist Charlie Kirk has some public figures pleading for restraint, while others agitate for violent reprisals
-
Why does Donald Trump keep showing up at major sporting events?
Today's Big Question Trump has appeared at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 and other events
-
‘Democracy is under threat globally’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day