Cristiano Ronaldo will meet United States president Donald Trump at the White House today, marking his first appearance on American soil in almost a decade.
The Portugal and Al-Nassr footballer, 40, has not been photographed publicly in the USA since being accused of rape in 2017 by former American teacher Kathryn Mayorga.
Revealing details of the alleged sexual assault in a 2017 interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, Mayorga claimed Ronaldo raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009.
The American woman had reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo in 2010, but spoke out with her accusations seven years later in an effort to seek millions more than the $375,000 (£304,000) sum she had received.
The lawsuit against Ronaldo, who has consistently and vehemently denied the allegations, was dismissed by a US judge in 2022 because the accuser’s lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records.
Ronaldo, whose last visit to the USA came in 2016 when he celebrated Portugal’s European Championship triumph in Las Vegas, is now set to be welcomed by Trump at the White House on Tuesday as part of Saudi Arabia’s state visit.
Trump is ready to roll out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), for a visit expected to advance the sale of F-35 fighter jets and a host of business deals with the kingdom.
The trip also marks the crown prince’s first visit to the USA since the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, which sparked global outrage.
U.S. intelligence concluded that MBS approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi, a prominent critic. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.
The warm welcome he will receive in Washington is the latest sign that relations have recovered from the deep strain caused by Khashoggi’s murder.
Ronaldo’s rare trip across the Atlantic comes seven months ahead of next summer’s World Cup, which is being staged in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Portugal are now also set to face off against USMNT (United States Men’s National Team) at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in March 2026, with Ronaldo expected to feature in the pre-World Cup friendly.
Fans eagerly tracked Ronaldo’s flight from Riyadh to Washington DC on Monday night, noting that the Portuguese icon and his fiancee Georgina were set to land in the capital at 10.36pm (3.36am BST).
Georgina, 31, took to social media to share photographs of the flight on her Instagram story.
Earlier this month, Ronaldo urged Trump to help broker peace worldwide by writing him a personal message on a Portugal jersey.
At the G7 summit in Canada, the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa (who is Portuguese), handed Trump the ‘Ronaldo 7’ kit.
The former Real Madrid superstar had written the message: ‘Playing for peace’. And in his post on X about the gift, Costa wrote: ‘To President Donald Trump. Playing for peace. As a team.’
It is unclear whether Ronaldo was referring to the Israel-Iran war or Israel-Palestine conflict, or if his message was simply a more general one.
The Portugal veteran expressed his wish to meet Trump in a recent interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, who maintains a longstanding friendship with the American president.
‘If the world is at peace, that’s our goal,’ Ronaldo told Morgan.
‘He (Trump) is one of the people who can change or help change the world. And that’s my main objective: to meet Trump and talk about world peace. If you can make it happen, he’s someone I’d really like to sit down with.’
