Cristiano Ronaldo will be at the White House on Tuesday, a day when U.S. President Donald Trump is hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the Oval Office, a White House official and multiple sources familiar with the plans confirmed to The Athletic.
Ronaldo, arguably the most famous soccer player in the world, has become the face of the Saudi Pro League, the domestic soccer league in Saudi Arabia which has invested billions of state dollars into attracting some of the most well-known players in the world in recent years. Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr, one of the Saudi Pro League teams owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund PIF (Public Investment Fund).
The meeting on Tuesday, which was first reported by MSNOW, will form part of a major diplomatic event as the Saudi Crown Prince returns to the United States for the first time in seven years. During that time, the Saudi leader became a global pariah following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, which a U.S. intelligence report claimed he approved — an allegation denied by MBS and Saudi Arabia. Trump and the Saudi crown prince are expected to discuss the Abraham accords, international relations and mutual investment between their two countries.
Ronaldo’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pictured at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Leaders’ Summit in Riyadh in May. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In a recent interview with journalist Piers Morgan, Ronaldo described MBS as “our boss.”
For Ronaldo, it will also be marking his first high-profile appearance in the States for over a decade, as the Portuguese star has not played in the U.S. for almost 12 years.
The 40-year-old last played in the U.S. on August 2, 2014, when he came on as a substitute for Real Madrid against Manchester United in front of a crowd of 109,318 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. He last played for Portugal in the U.S. earlier that summer in a friendly game against the Republic of Ireland at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Ronaldo’s absence in the U.S. has been magnified since 2017 when the German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed details of an alleged sexual assault involving Ronaldo and the model Kathryn Mayorga during a holiday in Las Vegas in 2009 — always strenuously denied by Ronaldo and for which charges have never been brought. Ronaldo has not been publicly photographed in the U.S. He has also not been part of any pre-season or exhibition matches in the country since then, whether playing for Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United or his current club Al Nassr. He did have preliminary discussions in late 2022 over a possible move to MLS’ Sporting Kansas City but went to Saudi Arabia instead.
In recent months, Ronaldo has also been part of diplomatic efforts to woo Trump. In July, the European Council president Antonio Costa (himself Portuguese), gave the U.S. President a Portugal jersey signed by Ronaldo during a Group Seven summit in Canada. It was a No. 7 jersey, signed by Ronaldo, which read: “To president Donald J. Trump, Playing for Peace.”
In the interview with Morgan, Ronaldo said he wished to meet President Trump to discuss world peace. “He is one of the guys who can help to change the world. One of the most important guys is the U.S. President. If we can help each other to make this happen…I swear I cannot watch TV. Sometimes I start to see the news and I cannot… 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 (Crown Prince) 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.”
Ronaldo is set to play in the U.S. in 2026, with his Portugal side due to play USMNT at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in an exhibition game in March. He is then expected to be part of the Portugal squad at the World Cup in the summer.
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