Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has been honoured by Donald Trump at a dinner at the White House during a Saudi visit to the US.
The American president welcomed the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, to Washington DC along with a delegation including the football star, 40.
Ronaldo sat next to Elon Musk, vice-president JD Vance and his fiancée, Georgina Rodriguez.
He later posed for a selfie with Rodriguez, Musk, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, and other business leaders. Technology investor David Sacks posted the selfie, captioning it: “Great night!”
The event marks the first time the footballer has been seen on US soil since being accused of rape by a woman in 2017. Kathryn Mayorga, a former teacher from the US, accused Ronaldo of raping her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009, which Ronaldo has “firmly” denied.
Great night! pic.twitter.com/XfdC9bJqP4
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) November 19, 2025
I firmly deny the accusations being issued against me. Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in. Keen as I may be to clear my name, I refuse to feed the media spectacle created by people seeking to promote themselves at my expense.
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) October 3, 2018
The case was settled out of court for around £304,000 and has since been dropped.
The footballer was mentioned by Trump in a speech, who said his son Barron is a huge football fan and that the two had been introduced earlier.
He said: “This room is loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world - business, sports.
“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.”
🎙️President Trump on Cristiano Ronaldo
— SimplyUtd (@SimplyUtd) November 19, 2025
“My son is a big fan of Ronaldo… Barron got to meet him and I think he respects his father a little more now.” 😂
pic.twitter.com/35iChXFAtR
Barron previously played in the youth ranks of the MLS team DC United and last year old footage of his football skills went viral. The president said he tried to persuade his son, who stands at 6ft 7, to pursue basketball.
He explained: “I said, 'You're gonna be a basketball player,"' to which Barron responded, “Well, I like soccer, Dad, actually.
“I thought, at your height, I like basketball better. But you can't talk them into everything.”
Resurfaced video shows Barron Trump playing soccer. pic.twitter.com/Ew2DkUPFUI
— (news) DOGE (@DOGE__news) December 6, 2024
The White House dinner was also the first time that the Saudi Crown Prince had been on US soil since it was revealed that he approved the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul in 2018.
When pressed on the matter by a reporter in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the president dismissed the question and claimed bin Salman “knew nothing about it”.
