Venezuelan golfer shares emotional message after Trump orders strike

President Donald Trump ordered a “main assault” towards Venezuela to seize its chief and transport him to the USA, the place his authorities plans to deliver him to justice.

The US army’s Delta Drive, an elite particular operations unit, led the operation to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a US official briefed on the matter advised Fox Information. The operation has provoked reactions from folks within the political area and from sports activities figures with shut ties to Venezuela.

Jhonatan Vegas, a Venezuelan golfer who performs on the PGA Tour, appeared to react to the occasions.

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Jhonatan Vegas of Venezuela watches from the 18th inexperienced on the 2025 PGA Championship 2025 Wentworth Golf Membership on September 11, 2025 in Virginia Water, England. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Photographs)

“Lengthy reside Venezuela DAMN ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL,” wrote Vegas on X in a put up translated from Spanish.

Vegas, 41, is ranked No. 85 on this planet. He had a historic run on the 2025 PGA Championship, changing into the primary Venezuelan to take the lead in any of the 4 main tournaments.

Vegas completed 8 below par after the primary 36 holes, topping the leaderboard on the Quail Hole Membership in Charlotte, North Carolina, in Might. He finally completed the most important in a tie for fifth place.

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Vegas first turned interested by golf when he was simply 2 years outdated.

“As a child, I might hit something I might discover. Rocks, broomstick, something,” he advised reporters after the opening spherical of final yr’s PGA Championship. “I grabbed no matter I might swing and that is what I did. As a younger child I felt like I used to be a very good athlete, in order that’s how issues began.

Jhonatan Vegas makes a putt on the sixteenth gap through the first spherical of the BMW Championship on August 14, 2025 in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Rafael Suanes/Imagn Photographs)

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“We grew up close to a nine-hole golf course that was owned by the oil corporations, and we had entry to a course and, plus my father’s love for the sport, we put it collectively, and we began taking part in.”

When he reached his teenagers, Vegas left Venezuela and moved to the US. He realized English and later took his {golfing} abilities to the Texas Longhorns.

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Vegas additional cemented his identify in historical past when he received the Bob Hope Traditional in 2011, making him the primary Venezuelan to win a PGA Tour-sanctioned occasion. He additionally represented his native nation twice on the Olympic Video games.

On Saturday, Trump described Maduro as “extremely guarded” in a presidential palace that was “a closely fortified army fortress within the coronary heart of Caracas.” Maduro was near reaching a secure room, Trump advised reporters, though he was “unable to shut it.”

President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago membership in Palm Seaside, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon)

In an interview earlier Saturday morning throughout “Fox & Mates Weekend,” Trump stated U.S. forces had been armed with “enormous blowtorches,” which they’d have used to chop by way of metal partitions if Maduro had locked himself within the room.

The Related Press contributed to this report.

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