Cristiano Ronaldo praised by Trump at White House dinner in his return to U.S.
Anna Rose Layden / Politico / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo attended a black-tie dinner at the White House on Tuesday alongside U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, FIFA president Gianni Infantino and dozens of billionaires and business leaders.
Trump, speaking to open the dinner, indicated that he had met Ronaldo and introduced Ronaldo to his son, Barron, a former soccer player.
“My son is a big fan of Ronaldo — wherever Ronaldo is here,” Trump said at a lectern. “And 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.”
Ronaldo was the first non-politician name-checked by Trump in a room that he said was “loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world (of) business, sports.”
🔴🔴 Donald Trump :
"Vous savez mon fils est un grand fan de Cristiano Ronaldo. Nous avons Ronaldo ici (applaudissements).
Je pense que mon fils respecte un peu plus son père maintenant que je vous ai présenté. Merci d'être là , c'est un honneur." pic.twitter.com/cUKXqPAo9C
— Gio CR7 (@ArobaseGiovanny) November 19, 2025
The reason for Ronaldo’s trip to Washington was not entirely clear, but it coincided with Bin Salman’s visit to the White House. The dinner concluded a day of bilateral meetings and pomp. It was Bin Salman’s first visit to the U.S. since Saudi agents killed and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, in 2018.
Ronaldo, arguably the most famous soccer player in the world, has developed close ties with Saudi Arabia. He has become the face of Saudi Arabia’s professional soccer league, which has spent billions of state dollars in recent years to attract some of the most well-known players in the world. Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr, one of the Saudi Pro League teams owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF (Public Investment Fund).
His record-shattering contracts, signed in 2023 and then 2025, also positioned him as something of an ambassador for the Kingdom. In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Ronaldo described Bin Salman as “our boss.”
Ronaldo’s appearance at the dinner was also notable in that it was his first known visit to the United States since Der Spiegel revealed in 2017 that a Las Vegas woman, Kathryn Mayorga, had accused Ronaldo of rape. The alleged assault – which Ronaldo and his representatives have always denied – occurred while Ronaldo was vacationing in the U.S. in 2009. He played multiple preseason matches for Real Madrid in the States over the years that followed, including in 2014. But since the 2017 revelation, and since Mayorga’s legal team began pursuing the case in U.S. courts in 2018, Ronaldo had stayed away.
Now, though, he and the Portugal national team are slated to play a March 2026 match against the United States in Atlanta. He is also set to captain Portugal at the 2026 World Cup, which will begin in June in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.
Ronaldo will almost certainly be in the Portugal squad for the tournament, though he could be suspended for one or more group-stage games. He was sent off for an elbow in last week’s qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. The red card triggered an automatic one-game ban, which Ronaldo served on Sunday. FIFA’s disciplinary code, however, states that players “shall be suspended … at least three matches or an appropriate period of time for assault, including elbowing, punching, kicking, biting, spitting at or hitting an opponent.”
If FIFA’s disciplinary committee deems that Ronaldo’s elbow fits that description, he would miss Portugal’s next competitive games, which will be at the World Cup. (FIFA spokespeople did not respond to a Tuesday email seeking clarity on the committee’s process and timeline.)
Ronaldo, 40, is also close to retirement, and has been increasingly involved in diplomatic efforts. In recent months, he has been part of attempts to woo Trump. In July, European Council president Antonio Costa — who, like Ronaldo, is Portuguese — gave the U.S. president a Portugal jersey signed by Ronaldo during a Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada. Ronaldo’s handwritten note on the jersey read: “To president Donald J. Trump, Playing for Peace.”
In the interview with Morgan, Ronaldo said he wished to meet Trump to discuss world peace.
“He is one of the guys who can help to change the world,” Ronaldo said in the early-November interview. “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. 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.”
It’s unclear how much time Trump and Ronaldo spent together on Tuesday. At the dinner, Ronaldo was seated at a central table next to a Saudi delegate.
Also in attendance was Infantino, who, with the World Cup coming to the U.S., Canada and Mexico next summer, has developed a close relationship and friendship with Trump. Infantino and Ronaldo were not seated together.
Elon Musk, Tim Cook and other high-profile executives from the tech, finance and energy industries also attended.
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Henry Bushnell is a senior writer for The Athletic covering soccer. He previously covered a variety of sports and events, including World Cups and Olympics, for Yahoo Sports. He is based in Washington, D.C. Follow Henry on Twitter @HenryBushnell
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Ronaldo, Trump, MBS at the White House? This is the world in 2025 (and World Cup in 2026)
Donald Trump, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohammed bin Salman Getty Images
Before Donald Trump arrived, a camera zeroed in on Elon Musk, then pivoted — because, sauntering around a table Tuesday night in the East Room of the White House, shaking hands and blowing kisses, was FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
It soon returned to Musk, the world’s richest man, then zoomed out again — because, scattered around three long tables at a black-tie dinner, were other billionaires, a Saudi prince and princess, top tech executives and … Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was seated feet away from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, his “boss,” amid a sea of American politicians and artificial intelligence CEOs, in a room that Trump said was “loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world.”
And the only question any reasonable person could possibly ask was: “Huh? Why?”
Why had a Portuguese soccer star flown across the Atlantic on his private jet for a gala after a bilateral meeting between the President of the United States and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia?
Why was Ronaldo, who earned the world’s attention with dazzling skill and ruthless goalscoring, at this absurdly exclusive event that had nothing to do with soccer or Portugal or Real Madrid or Manchester United?
And the only reasonable answer was: This, in 2025, is the world we live in.
It’s a world where powerful people mingle in search of mutually beneficial ways to wield their power, where sports, politics and business are as intertwined as ever. The assumption, then, was that Ronaldo wants something from Trump, or vice versa, and hmmm, what could that be?
Could it be an intervention to ensure that Ronaldo doesn’t face a 2026 World Cup suspension for his recent red card?
Could it be a preemptive pardon and an assurance that he’ll never be punished for his alleged rape of a Las Vegas woman in 2009 (Ronaldo has never been charged and has always strenuously denied the accusation).
Could it be, on the other hand, that Trump wants Ronaldo in his corner as a vocal supporter as he tries to commandeer the 2026 World Cup for political gain?
Those, in another world, at another time, would all have been outlandish theories.
Now, they are … just theories.
It could, of course, be that Ronaldo has genuine altruistic aims. He spoke earlier this month about his desire to talk with Trump because of the U.S. President’s power to negotiate world peace. “I wish one day to meet him,” Ronaldo said, “because he is one of the guys who can make things happen. And I like people like that.”
A few weeks later, on Tuesday, Ronaldo did meet Trump. All we know about the meeting, though, is that Trump’s son, Barron — “a big fan of Ronaldo,” Trump said — was impressed when Dad introduced him.
“I think he respects his father a little bit more now,” Trump said.
Some of the 100-plus people in the room laughed.
Bloody conflicts and world peace, as far as we know, were not impacted.
The more likely explanation — the one posited by multiple experts to The Athletic — is that Ronaldo was brought to Washington by Bin Salman and the Saudi delegation as something of a show pony. Ronaldo’s record-shattering contracts with Saudi soccer club Al Nassr — which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF — have positioned him as something of an ambassador for the Kingdom. He was, essentially, bought by the Gulf state as both a footballer and an instrument of soft power. His presence at the dinner alongside Saudi dignitaries would serve to reinforce the nation’s increasingly prominent — and decreasingly controversial — place in the world.
Hours earlier, Trump and Bin Salman were getting grilled by reporters about the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, a murder that U.S. intelligence officials later said Bin Salman had ordered. The Saudi leader has been criticized internationally for his brutal repression of dissent and for the country’s human rights record.
But at the glitzy gala, Bin Salman sat there smiling as Trump introduced him as a “great friend and a man of leadership, vision, courage and strength.”
And Ronaldo, near the front of the room, sat there sipping what appeared to be Champagne.
What did he get out of it? What did he take from Trump’s speech about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz, about American manufacturing and military equipment, about the “beautiful B-2 bombers” that attacked Iran, and plenty more?
Perhaps the goal was to lay groundwork for a post-playing career in or adjacent to politics.
Or, perhaps, there were more immediate aims. To his right was Trump, and over his left shoulder was Infantino, the two men who seem to control the 2026 World Cup. And somewhere off in the distance, watching the event or reading about it, was a FIFA disciplinary committee member who will soon help decide whether Ronaldo will serve a three-match suspension for his recent elbow of an Irish player — as FIFA’s disciplinary code seems to suggest he should. Are we supposed to believe that this independent committee member would feel no pressure to make a certain decision? And that Infantino wouldn’t heed a request from Trump on behalf of a new friend?
Perhaps that’s a preposterous suggestion, an irresponsible piece of speculation. There is, to be clear, no evidence to suggest any of this is happening.
But this is a world where the U.S. Justice Department has reportedly been overtaken by a “culture of fear” and political influence, where critics say laws of all sorts are being disregarded, where loyalty seems to hold sway over expertise and merit.
And it’s a world where Infantino’s relentless flattering and wooing of Trump yields benefits — like the “FIFA PASS” system that will grant World Cup ticket holders traveling to the U.S. from abroad an expedited visa interview. A year ago, some inside FIFA would have conceded the idea as a lost cause. Earlier this week, Trump and his cabinet announced it.
That is how and why Infantino and Ronaldo, Fox hosts and crypto executives, Apple CEO Tim Cook and golfer Bryson Dechambeau, and a dozen Saudi ministers end up in the same chandelier- and candle-lit room.
This is the world in 2025.
And this will be the World Cup in 2026.
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R
· 14h 11m ago
Rapist game see rapist game
J
· 13h 52m ago
Scum of the Earth, all of them. I don't know how much more we're all meant to take of these craven animals brazenly rubbing it in our faces like this.
S
· 14h 11m ago
Maybe Ronaldo angling for a preemptive pardon?