The cost of policing a potential visit by US President Donald Trump will be “considerable”, a senior Police Scotland officer has said as the force looks to secure extra funding.
It emerged on Wednesday that the force was in the early stages of planning for a visit at the end of this month, though a final date is yet to be confirmed.
The visit, which would likely see the president visit one or both of his golf clubs in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, will require substantial policing resources and likely units to be called in from elsewhere in the UK.
Speaking to the PA news agency on Thursday, Deputy Chief Constable Alan Speirs said Police Scotland will be discussing costs with the Scottish and UK Governments.
“You wouldn’t be surprised that the cost of policing such an event would be considerable, and we will work with Government around the provision of costs,” he said.
But Police Scotland staffing levels will not drop elsewhere in the country during any visit, the senior officer said.
He added: “We will seek support for the financial costs associated with such an event and I’d be confident that those costs will be met.”
Asked if the funding would come from the Scottish Government, Mr Speirs said: “That’ll be a conversation we would have with Scottish Government, linking into UK Government, in the coming days and it would be part of our planning for the event.”
The last time Mr Trump came to Scotland – in between his two terms as US president – he was met with substantial protests.
Mr Speirs said he was confident Police Scotland would be able to deal with any protests, urging those who would want to demonstrate to “do it in a fair and reasonable way and within the realms of the law”.
“We’re in the early stages (of planning) and we’re unclear just as to what that will be for this event,” he said.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has been working collaboratively with the UK Government to support Police Scotland’s planning for a potential visit to Scotland by the President of the United States.
“The First Minister has been briefed on policing preparations.”
