U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video on Thursday depicting him and Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo juggling and passing a ball inside the Oval Office, a clip that quickly amassed about 34 million views and sparked a wave of amused online reaction.
The post came days after Trump hosted a White House dinner honoring Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, where Ronaldo was among guests. On Instagram, Trump praised Ronaldo as “a great guy,” adding that meeting him at the White House had been “very nice” and calling the forward “smart and very calm.” The stylized video shows the pair exchanging passes; at one point Trump grabs the ball with his hands before turning and kicking it toward the “audience.”
Commenters poked fun at the tableau—“Haters will say it’s AI,” one wrote—while others joked about the president’s heading technique. The clip’s popularity underscored Ronaldo’s crossover appeal in the U.S. and the growing use of synthetic media around political figures.
Before Trump’s post, Ronaldo shared photos with the president alongside his fiancée, Georgina Rodríguez, thanking him for the invitation and saying he was ready to help inspire younger generations “on courage, responsibility and lasting peace.” Trump later told an audience that his son Barron, a devoted Ronaldo fan, “respects his father a little more now” after the introduction.
At the state event, Ronaldo was seated near the front of the East Room as Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed addressed officials from both countries. The AI video, however, was produced and shared separately, with no suggestion the ball skills display occurred during the dinner itself.