WASHINGTON — Cristiano Ronaldo attended an exclusive dinner at the White House on Tuesday night with President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a list of elite guests.
"This room is loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world, business, sports. You know, my son is a big fan of Ronaldo," Trump said at the dinner.
He added, "Ronaldo is here and Barron got to meet him, and I think he respects his father a little bit more now."
Ronaldo, 40, plays for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Next year’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Mexico and Canada, will likely be his last appearance at the tournament.
After a storied European career, Ronaldo’s Manchester United contract ended in November 2022 amid tensions between him and the club; he signed with Al-Nassr that December. The contract was reportedly worth over $200 million a year.
In June, Ronaldo re-signed with Al-Nassr for two more years. His decision to join the Saudi Pro League seemingly set the stage for other stars to follow suit, as Brazil’s Neymar and France’s Karim Benzema also joined the league in 2023.
Saudi Arabia has expanded its foothold in global sports over the last few years, launching LIV Golf in 2022, as well as hosting Formula One races and high-profile boxing matches. Last year, FIFA named the country the host of the 2034 World Cup.
In September, the country announced it would hold a flag football tournament in March 2026 featuring numerous retired and current NFL players, including Tom Brady.
The rapid expansion into sports has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who accuse Saudi Arabia of trying to “sportswash” its human rights records.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is already a prime sportswashing accomplice based on his work in Saudi Arabia,” said Jules Boykoff, who teaches courses on the relationship between politics and sport at Oregon’s Pacific University.
“Now Ronaldo is taking his show on the road, where he is abetting Donald Trump’s efforts to sportswash, allowing the president to deflect attention from domestic chronic social problems and human-rights woes while looking important on the global stage,” Boykoff added.
Bin Salman, meanwhile, became an international pariah after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government, in 2018. Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that the crown prince himself ordered the killing. Trump also has personal business relationships with Saudi Arabia, including hosting LIV Golf events at his properties.
Monica Alba reported from Washington and Rohan Nadkarni from Chicago.
