Superstar footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House later today. The Portuguese footballer, 40, will reportedly visit Trump as part of a Saudi crew led by Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince is visiting the United States for the first time since the CIA determined that he approved the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to White House reporter Jake Traylor, Ronaldo is set to be welcomed by Trump later today. Ronaldo has not been photographed publicly in the USA since being accused of rape in 2017 by former American teacher Kathryn Mayorga. Revealing details of the alleged sexual assault in a 2017 interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, Mayorga claimed Ronaldo raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. The American woman had reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Ronaldo in 2010, but spoke out with her accusations seven years later in an effort to seek millions more than the $375,000 (304,000) sum she had received. The lawsuit against Ronaldo, who has consistently and vehemently denied the allegations, was dismissed by a US judge in 2022 because the accuser's lawyer relied on leaked and stolen records. Earlier this month, Ronaldo urged Trump to help broker peace worldwide by writing him a personal message on a Portugal jersey. At the G7 summit in Canada, the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa (who is Portuguese), handed Trump the 'Ronaldo 7' kit. The former Real Madrid superstar had written the message: 'Playing for peace'. And in his post on X about the gift, Costa wrote: 'To President Donald Trump. Playing for peace. As a team.'
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