Muhammad Ali was no stranger to this kind of encounter. In 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush at the White House. Michael Jordan experienced the same moment in 2016, honoured by Barack Obama for an extraordinary career that had become a national symbol. In France, we are also accustomed to these scenes where a country, through its representative(s), celebrates its sporting heroes.
These meetings all share the same logic. A head of state receives one of his own, in the name of sporting success that embodies national pride. Sport then becomes a patriotic banner, one of those symbolic victories that brings people together.
On 18 November, the White House once again welcomed one of the greatest sportsmen in history, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
But this meeting was a radical departure from the tradition of encounters between sportsmen and politicians.
Organised in honour of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the dinner brought together business leaders, tech personalities and Saudi representatives. It was in this context that Cristiano Ronaldo was invited. Since his arrival in Saudi Arabia in 2023, the Portuguese footballer has become a real showcase for the kingdom: tourism campaigns, publications featuring national celebrations, participation in major sporting events hosted by the country. He has established himself as an instrument of influence, a central relay for Saudi soft power.
It is primarily this context that makes the meeting between the sportsman and Donald Trump so unprecedented: seeing a Portuguese footballer, promoted as the figurehead of Saudi soft power, take centre stage in the White House alongside the American president and numerous figures from American business, such as Elon Musk and Tim Cook.
Despite the presence of these American heavyweights, the man with the most recognisable acronym in the world, CR7, was not a secondary guest. On the contrary, the communication surrounding this event made him one of the main figures of the meeting.
A meeting in the Oval Office, a dinner where Cristiano Ronaldo was explicitly mentioned by Donald Trump, a guided tour of the White House alongside his partner Georgina Rodriguez, herself now a figure in Saudi communications, and finally an avalanche of content: photos, videos, and AI-generated videos. The official accounts of Donald Trump, the White House and Cristiano Ronaldo simultaneously flooded all of their social networks.
Among these posts was a video from the White House’s Instagram account showing Trump, Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez walking together, accompanied by a comment: ‘Two GOATs’, echoing the code used in online sports debates to refer to ‘the greatest of all time’. Seeing this rhetoric used by an American political institution reveals both a desire to position Trump within contemporary digital communications and to present Ronaldo as an exceptional figure on a par with the president.
This overabundance of content raises questions about the true nature of the meeting. Everything seems designed for digital: maximising visibility and therefore occupying media space. The sportsman, as an athlete, is ultimately less important than the audience he generates. As such, none of the content released by the White House, Trump or Ronaldo shows the player saying a single word. The meeting is mainly a staged event, with the footballer’s visual presence as the main focus.
In this context, Ronaldo is no longer just a player, and even less celebrated for a recent performance, as he now plays in a league with limited sporting scope. Above all, he has become a media powerhouse, capable of capturing and directing global audiences. With more than half a billion followers on Instagram, his influence exceeds that of many leaders. Joseph Nye’s analysis of soft power perfectly illuminates the situation: attraction becomes a strategic resource, sometimes more effective than coercion. Ronaldo embodies this, a power of influence amplified by social media.
Trump is not meeting an athlete, but a media powerhouse. Sport is no longer (at all?) the reason for the exchange; it is CR7’s extraordinary audience that creates the political interest.
This meeting broadly redefines what it means to be a sports ambassador, bringing the notion of influencer back to the forefront. Ronaldo is becoming a weapon of algorithmic soft power, whose effectiveness relies less on his results than on his digital performance. In the world of influence diplomacy, the Portuguese footballer’s legitimacy is no longer measured in trophies, but in his dominance of the digital space.
By Evan Tanguy
