Donald Trump will host Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a summit in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Ronaldo, who currently plays for Saudi club al-Nassr, has became an important sporting ambassador for the Kingdom and recently referred to bin Salman as his âbossâ.
The Portuguese forward has not been to the US since 2014. His absence came after sexual assault allegations were made against him by model Kathryn Mayorga – who has waived her right to anonymity – during a holiday in Las Vegas in 2009.
The allegations, first detailed by German newspaper Der Spiegel in 2017, have always been vehemently denied by Ronaldo and no charges have ever been brought.
Ronaldo recently praised Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan.
He said: âHe is one of the guys who can help to change the world. One of the most important guys is the US President.â
He added: âHe is one of the guys I wish to meet to sit and have a nice talk. If it is here, or in the US, wherever he wants, I know he was here in Saudi with our boss MBS (Bin Salman).â
News of Ronaldoâs visit came hours after Trump committed to selling F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a surprise announcement, just hours before he rolls out the red carpet for the countryâs Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The US president told reporters on Monday that the US “will be selling” the advanced supersonic stealth fighter jets to the Kingdom, who he described as a âgreat allyâ who wants âto buy themâ.
Sales of F-35 jets to Saudi would mark a major US policy shift, while also having a significant impact on the balance of military power in the Middle East, particularly in an era of high tensions between Israel – the only country in the region to currently own F-35s – and its neighbours.
The Saudi government has requested to buy 48 of the jets, which are produced by Lockheed Martin, despite concerns from the Pentagon that giving Riyadh access to the jets could lead to China being given access to their advanced and sensitive stealth technology.
It has set the stage for what is likely to be a warm welcome for bin Salman, referred to widely as MBS, as he flies to the US for the first time since the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, which prompted outrage worldwide. US intelligence concluded that MBS approved his capture or killing.
Relations with the US have improved in the past seven years since Mr Khashoggiâs murder. While MBS has accepted responsibility for the killing “because it happened under my watch”, he has insisted that he did not order it.
Trump will sit down with the Saudi ruler, who is the son of 89-year-old King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud but is widely considered the countryâs de facto leader, for a full day of White House diplomacy.
The pair will hold talks in the Oval Office, before eating lunch in the Cabinet Room and attending a formal black-tie dinner in the evening.
The US president will look to finalise a Saudi investment pledge of $600 billion dollars, described as âhistoric and transformativeâ by the White House, which said the deal would âstrengthen our energy security, defence industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructureâ.
Trump will likely pressure MBS for Saudi to join the Abraham Accords and normalise relations with Israel, after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October, 2023 and Israelâs subsequent two-year-long invasion and bombardment in Gaza heavily set the process back.
Riyadh have been reluctant to take such a major step without a clear path to Palestinian statehood. Trump reached the agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan during his first term in 2020.
MBS is also believed to be looking for security guarantees for Saudi Arabia, access to artificial intelligence technology, and progress on a deal on a civil nuclear programme.
A senior White House official told the Reuters news agency that the Saudis would be âspending a lot of money tomorrow on the USâ.
