Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo joined FIFA head Gianni Infantino and a starry roster of tech moguls at President Donald Trump's black-tie dinner for Saudi's Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday evening.
The world's richest soccer player rubbed shoulders with world leaders at a dinner honoring the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, after a day when Trump and the crown prince discussed artificial intelligence, F-35 fighter jets, and a new strategic defence agreement.
A room filled with the bosses of some of America's leading tech companies watched as Trump thanked the prince for his earlier commitment to invest $600 billion in the U.S.
This was the crown prince's first U.S. visit since the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, murdered by Saudi agents according to U.S. intelligence.
FIFA boss Infantino and Trump have made many recent appearances together ahead of next year's World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. In July, after the U.S. hosted FIFA's Club World Cup, the President presented the winners trophy to English team Chelsea at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, venue for next year's World Cup Final.
Last year Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund bought a $1 billion stake in broadcaster DAZN, which paid FIFA $1 billion for the TV rights deal. The prize fund for the Club World Cup was $1 billion.
In October Bloomberg announced that Ronaldo's wealth had soared to $1.4 billion thanks to a contract extension with Saudi's Al-Nassr that made him soccer's highest-earner and eclipsed all previous annual wages in the sport's history.
Other billionaire White House dinner attendees included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Tesla boss Elon Musk.
President Trump speaking at the dinner: "My son is a big fan of Ronaldo. 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 for being here."
Ronaldo praised Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan last week: "[President Trump] is one of the guys who can help to change the world. I know he was here in Saudi with our boss MBS. I wish one day to meet him because he is one of the guys who can make things happen and I like people like that."
In June Infantino announced that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. On December 5 FIFA will announce its inaugural global peace prize winner during the draw for the World Cup at the Kennedy Center in New York.