President of the United States of America Donald Trump has said his son is a big fan of Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, New York Times reports.
Ronaldo attended a black-tie dinner at the White House on Tuesday alongside 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 the former Real Madrid star to his son, Barron, a former football 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.”
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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.”
