Its been a long time since Cristiano Ronaldos influence was restricted to merely what he did on the football pitch.
The 40-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid man is one of the biggest personal global brands on the planet, with his every move scrutinised.
Saha on Ronaldo's Trump meeting
The perennially controversial Trump is perhaps one of the few figures in the world who is more talked about than Ronaldo, so it perhaps shouldnt be a surprise that the two broke bread ahead of this summers World Cup, which is being played in North America.
Donalds 19-year-old son Barron is a big fan of the forward, but the decision to meet with the most divisive politician of modern times raised the eyebrows of one of Ronaldos ex-team-mates.
I was surprised Cristiano chose to do that, its something new for him, his former Manchester United team-mate Louis Saha admitted.
I remember when he pushed two bottles of soft drink away at a press conference once and it caused a storm, so hes always had the ability to influence the wider world.
That occasion saw Ronaldo move aside Coca-Cola bottles which had been strategically placed in front of him at Euro 2020. Ronaldo instead held up a bottle of water and this caused Coca-Colas market value to plummet by around �3bn.
This was a reminder of how even a small gesture can have a huge knock-on effect.
I dont know if Cristiano understood the ramifications of that visit, Saha ponders of his photo opportunity with Trump.
It might be taken as an endorsement of some of Trumps policies, and he might not have meant it to come across like that.
Ronaldo will be back in the United States in the summer, when his Portugal side take on Colombia, Uzbekistan and a play-off winner in their group stage matches which will be split between in Houston and Miami.
