Trump to welcome Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohammed bin Salman to the White House | EUROtoday

Donald Trump will host Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman at a summit within the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Ronaldo, who presently performs for Saudi membership al-Nassr, has change into an vital sporting ambassador for the dominion and not too long ago referred to bin Salman as his “boss”.

The Portuguese ahead has not been to the US since 2014. His absence got here after sexual assault allegations had been made in opposition to him by mannequin Kathryn Mayorga, who has waived her proper to anonymity, throughout a vacation in Las Vegas in 2009.

The allegations, first detailed by German newspaper The mirror in 2017, have all the time been vehemently denied by Ronaldo, and no costs have ever been introduced.

Ronaldo not too long ago praised Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan.

He mentioned: “He is one of the guys who can help to change the world. One of the most important guys is the US president.”

He added: “He 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).”

News of Ronaldo’s go to got here hours after Mr Trump dedicated to promoting F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia in a shock announcement, simply hours earlier than he rolled out the pink carpet for the nation’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The US president informed reporters on Monday that the US “will be selling” the superior supersonic stealth fighter jets to the dominion, which he described as a “great ally” who needs “to buy them”.

Sales of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia would mark a significant US coverage shift, whereas additionally having a big affect on the stability of navy energy within the Middle East, notably in an period of excessive tensions between Israel – the one nation within the area to presently personal F-35s – and its neighbours.

The Saudi authorities has requested to purchase 48 of the jets, that are produced by Lockheed Martin, regardless of considerations from the Pentagon that giving Riyadh entry to the jets may result in China being given entry to their superior and delicate stealth know-how.

It set the stage for what was a heat welcome for the Saudi crown pricne, referred to extensively as MBS, as he flew to the US for the primary time because the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi brokers in Istanbul, which prompted outrage worldwide. US intelligence concluded that MBS authorized his seize or killing.

Relations with the US have improved previously seven years since Mr Khashoggi’s homicide. While MBS has accepted accountability for the killing “because it happened under my watch”, he has insisted that he didn’t order it.

Mr Trump sat down with the Saudi ruler, who’s the son of 89-year-old king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud however is extensively thought-about the nation’s de facto chief, for a full day of White House diplomacy.

The pair will maintain talks within the Oval Office, earlier than consuming lunch within the Cabinet Room and attending a proper black-tie dinner within the night.

The US president will look to finalise a Saudi funding pledge of $600 billion {dollars}, described as ”historic and transformative” by the White House, which mentioned the deal would “strengthen our energy security, defence industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure”.

Trump will doubtless stress MBS for Saudi to affix the Abraham Accords and normalise relations with Israel, after the Hamas-led assaults on 7 October, 2023 and Israel’s subsequent two-year-long invasion and bombardment in Gaza closely set the method again.

Riyadh have been reluctant to take such a significant step and not using a clear path to Palestinian statehood. Trump reached the agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan throughout his first time period in 2020.

MBS can be believed to be searching for safety ensures for Saudi Arabia, entry to synthetic intelligence know-how, and progress on a deal on a civil nuclear programme.

A senior White House official informed the Reuters information company that the Saudis can be “spending a lot of money tomorrow on the US”.