Donald Trump pays tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo at White House dinner with Saudi Crown Prince
Cristiano Ronaldo met with Barron Trump before being honored by his father at the White House dinner on Tuesday night.
Donald Trump hosted the glitzy event to welcome Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington DC.
Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League, is also part of the delegation and his fiancée Georgina Rodriguez joined him in the country’s capital. The 40-year-old man was seen wearing a black tuxedo as he took his seat alongside the likes of Elon Musk and vice president JD Vance.
It marked the football star’s first public appearance on US soil since he was accused of rape by an American teacher in 2017. Trump also name-checked Ronaldo during his dinner speech, revealing that the Portuguese star had previously been introduced to his son, who is a big football fan.
“This room is full of the world’s greatest leaders, from business to sports,” Trump said. ‘My son is a huge Ronaldo fan… Barron met him and I think he respects his father a little more now – just because I introduced you. So I want to thank you both for being here.’
According to reports, Barron Trump previously spent time in the youth ranks of MLS team DC United. Old footage of the 19-year-old’s football highlights went viral in December 2024, and he had previously invited England legend Wayne Rooney to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Cristiano Ronaldo was among the guests at the dinner held at the White House on Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump reveals he met football star’s 19-year-old son Barron
Ronaldo sat next to First Lady Melania Trump at dinner in the East Room of the White House
Barron is a huge football fan and a video showing off his skills went viral in December 2024
Ronaldo, 40, was photographed during Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
Trump recalled a conversation he had with Barron last year when he was trying to persuade his 6-foot-2 son to play another sport. “And I said, ‘You will be a basketball player,'” the President said. ‘I actually like football dad,’ Barron replied.
The president continued: ‘I thought… I like basketball better when I’m your size, but you can’t convince them of everything.’
Tuesday also saw the Saudi Crown Prince travel to the United States for the first time since US intelligence claimed he approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Trump came to a sensational defense of the Crown Prince when questioned by a reporter in the Oval Office about Khashoggi’s murder early Tuesday, rebuking the question and saying bin Salman “didn’t know anything about it,” contradicting a U.S. intelligence report that emerged during his first tenure as president.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo, 40, a player for Portuguese and Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr, has not been publicly photographed in the US since he was accused of rape by former American teacher Kathryn Mayorga in 2017.
Explaining the details of the sexual assault claim in an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2017, Mayorga claimed that Ronaldo raped her in a hotel in Las Vegas in 2009.
The American woman reportedly settled out of court with Ronaldo in 2010 but pressed her charges seven years later in a bid to demand more than the $375,000 (£304,000) she received.
The case 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 recordings.
Trump welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House
Billionaire Elon Musk was also among the important guests of the dinner on Tuesday night
Trump was given a Portugal jersey signed by Ronaldo earlier this year
The football player has not been publicly seen in the United States since 2017, when allegations of rape by Kathryn Mayorga (the American woman photographed with Ronaldo in Las Vegas in 2009) were made.
However, since 2017, Ronaldo has not appeared in any offseason or exhibition matches held in the United States, while playing for Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United and his current team.
The issue came to the fore again on Sunday as Portugal qualified for next summer’s World Cup, with the majority of the tournament to be held in the United States. Ronaldo and the Portuguese team are also scheduled to play a friendly match against the USA in Atlanta next March.
Ronaldo has been making moves to attract Trump’s attention and appears to be using his stardom as one of the game’s greatest and most popular players ever to attract his attention.
In July, Trump was presented with a Portuguese football jersey by Portuguese European Council President Antonio Costa. It was signed by Ronaldo and read: ‘To President Donald J. Trump who plays for peace.’
In an interview with Trump’s former friend Piers Morgan last week, Ronaldo said he hoped to meet Trump and praised his peace efforts.
“He is one of the men who can help change the world,” Ronaldo said. ‘One of the most important men is the President of the United States.
‘He’s one of the guys I’d like to meet so I can sit down and have a nice talk. I know that he is wherever he wants, whether it is here, in the USA, in Saudi Arabia with our boss MBS (Mohammed bin Salman).
‘I wish to meet him one day because he’s one of those guys who can make things happen and I love people like that.’
In his second term as President, Trump has worked hard to align himself with sports stars both in the United States and beyond.
Trump and Bin Salman were photographed together as they walked towards the Oval Office on Tuesday
Ronaldo’s fiancée Georgina Rodriguez accompanied him to the White House visit
He became the first President to attend a Super Bowl in February and also made a high-profile trip to the Ryder Cup just outside New York in late September.
Trump also attended the US Open men’s final Daytona 500, a Yankees game on the anniversary of 9/11, and recently attended the Washington Commanders’ NFL game against the Detroit Lions outside D.C.
Ronaldo’s visit to Washington comes on the same day that Congress voted almost unanimously to mandate the release of Justice Department files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump had fought against the move for months before ending his opposition, and two days after Trump’s sudden reversal, the House passed the measure by a 427-1 vote, sending a resolution requiring the release of all declassified records about Epstein to the Republican-majority Senate, which swiftly approved the bill.
The bill can now go to Trump for signature on Wednesday.
