Donald Trump has paid tribute to soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who was among the guests at a White House dinner on Tuesday night.
The president hosted the glitzy event to welcome the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to Washington DC.
Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League, is part of the delegation and he was there alongside the likes of Elon Musk and vice president JD Vance. It marked the soccer star’s first public appearance on US soil since being accused of rape by an American teacher in 2017.
Trump namechecked Ronaldo during his speech at the dinner, revealing that the Portugal star had met his son, Barron, who is a huge soccer fan.
‘This room is loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world – business, sports…’ Trump said. ‘My son is a big fan of Ronaldo… Barron got to meet him and I think he respects his father a little bit more now – just the fact that I introduced you. So I just want to thank you both for being here.’
It’s also the first time that the Saudi Crown Prince has been in the United States since U.S. intelligence claimed he approved the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Cristiano Ronaldo was among the guests at a White House dinner on Tuesday night
President Donald Trump paid tribute to the soccer star during his speech at the glitzy event
Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House
Trump sensationally defended the Crown Prince when he was quizzed on Khashoggi’s murder in the Oval Office earlier on Tuesday, scolding the question and, defying the US intelligence report which emerged during his first tenure as president, said Bin Salman ‘knew nothing about it’.
Meanwhile the 40-year-old Ronaldo, a player for Portugal and Saudi team Al-Nassr, has not been photographed publicly in the USA since being accused of rape in 2017 by former American teacher Kathryn Mayorga.
Revealing details of the alleged sexual assault in a 2017 interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, Mayorga claimed Ronaldo raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
The American woman had reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo in 2010, but spoke out with her accusations seven years later in an effort to seek millions more than the $375,000 (£304,000) sum she had received.
The lawsuit against Ronaldo, who has consistently and vehemently denied the allegations, was dismissed by a US judge in 2022 because the accuser’s lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records.
But since 2017, Ronaldo has not been involved in any offseason or exhibition games staged in the US while playing for Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and his current team.
The matter was thrown back into the spotlight on Sunday when Portugal clinched qualification for next summer’s World Cup, where the majority of the tournament is held in the United States. Ronaldo and his Portugal team are also scheduled to play the United States in Atlanta next March in a friendly.
Trump was gifted a Portugal jersey that had been signed by Ronaldo earlier in the year
The footballer has not been seen publicly in the US since 2017 when rape allegations made by Kathryn Mayorga (the American woman pictured with Ronaldo in Las Vegas in 2009)
Ronaldo has been making moves to appeal to Trump, seemingly using his stardom as one of the game’s greatest and most popular players ever to catch his eye.
In July, Trump was gifted a Portugal soccer jersey by Portuguese European Council president Antonio Costa. It was signed by Ronaldo, who wrote: ‘To president Donald J. Trump, Playing for Peace.’
And last week, in an interview with Trump’s old friend Piers Morgan, Ronaldo said he hoped to meet Trump and praised his peacemaking efforts.
‘He is one of the guys who can help to change the world,’ Ronaldo said. ‘One of the most important guys is the U.S. President.
‘He is one of the guys I wish to meet to sit and have a nice talk. If it is here, or in the U.S., wherever he wants, I know he was here in Saudi with our boss MBS (Mohammed bin Salman).
‘I wish one day to meet him because he is one of the guys who can make things happen and I like people like that.’
The soccer star was at the White House alongside his fiancee, Georgina Rodriguez.
In Trump’s second term as President, he has worked hard to align himself with sporting stars both across the United States and beyond.
Trump and Bin Salman pictured together as they walk towards the Oval Office on Tuesday
Ronaldo was joined on his visit to the White House by his fiancee, Georgina Rodriguez
He became the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl in February and also made a high-profie trip to the Ryder Cup in late September, just outside of New York.
Trump has also attended the US Open men’s final, the Daytona 500, a Yankees game on the anniversary of 9-11 and recently attended the Washington Commanders’ NFL game against the Detroit Lions outside of DC.
His meeting with Ronaldo and the Saudis comes on the day where the House is shortly expected to vote to order the Department of Justice to release all of the Epstein files, after Trump dropped his opposition to the bill.
