Questioned by journalists about the player being involved in what seems to be a whitewashing operation of a figure linked, even, to the murder of a journalist, referring to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the head of state remarked that there is “a change in American policy regarding a particular State after many years.”
“But it is a very sensitive change in American policy for reasons that appear to relate to the current situation. What we can understand is that what was and for a long time has been the position of a particular State has changed and is now a different position,” he noted, speaking at the sidelines of the PME Innovation Meeting, organized by COTEC Portugal.
According to the head of state, the position of Donald Trump’s first administration “was one, and continued with his successor, now it has changed, it is an option of the United States of America.”
“I will not comment on it, the Portuguese position is already known, it has been the same for many years,” he added.
When asked whether it is an embarrassment for Portugal that the national team captain is part of another country’s entourage, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed that it goes beyond him.
“That concerns the conditions, which I do not know, of the invitations to the White House. I was in an audience, head of state to head of state, I do not know how other types of receptions or invitations are for state visits or outside state visits,” he observed.
Earlier, when asked about Ronaldo’s appearance as an ambassador for Saudi Arabia, the President of the Republic acknowledged that the footballer is a genius, noting that Portugal owes “immensely in terms of prestige” to the player.
“The fact that he is known worldwide and is recognized at all levels is not news,” he highlighted, recalling that in 2018, when he was received at the White House by President Donald Trump during Trump’s first administration, they discussed the Portuguese player.
“He [Trump] did not know much about football, but his son knew and liked it (…). He was saying ‘my son tells me that Ronaldo is a great player,’ I said ‘he is not a great player, he is the best player in the world.'”
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo attended a dinner today hosted by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, becoming the third Portuguese athlete to make an official visit to the White House.
The dinner took place on the same day the U.S. head of state received Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who also leads the majority investment fund of Al Nassr, the club for which Ronaldo plays.
This marked Mohammad bin Salman’s first trip to the United States since 2018, the year of the murder of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, for which Washington held bin Salman accountable at the time.
The player had previously expressed interest in meeting Trump in a recent interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, released on November 6: “He is one of the people I want to meet, I would like to have a good conversation with him. He is someone I really like because he is one of the people who can make things happen.”
Since arriving in Saudi Arabia in 2023, Ronaldo has taken on a promotional role for the country, and the meeting with the American President coincided with Mohammad bin Salman’s first visit to Washington in seven years.
Cristiano Ronaldo joins marathoner Carlos Lopes, in 1984, and basketball player Neemias Queta, in 2024, as among the Portuguese athletes to officially visit the White House.
