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President Donald Trump ordered a “large scale strike” against Venezuela to capture its leader and transport him to the United States, where his administration plans to put him on trial.
The U.S. Army’s Delta Force, an elite special operations unit, led the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a U.S. official briefed on the matter told Fox News. The operation has drawn reactions from those in the political arena as well as sports figures with close ties to Venezuela.
Jhonattan Vegas, a Venezuelan golfer who competes on the PGA Tour, appeared to react to the events.
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Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela looks on from the 18th green at the 2025 PGA Championship 2025 Wentworth Golf Club Sept. 11, 2025, in Virginia Water, England. (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
“Long live Venezuela, DAMN IT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL,” Vegas wrote on X in a post translated from Spanish.
Vegas, 41, is ranked No. 85 in the world. He had a historic run at the 2025 PGA Championship, becoming the first Venezuelan to take the lead at one of the four major tournaments.
Vegas finished 8-under par after the first 36 holes, placing him atop the leaderboard at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May. He ultimately finished the major in a tie for fifth place.
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Vegas first took an interest in golf when he was just 2 years old.
“As a kid, I would hit anything that I could find. Rocks, broomstick, everything,” he told reporters after the opening round of last year’s PGA Championship. “I would grab anything that I could swing and I would do it. Feel like I was a good athlete as a young kid, so that’s kind of how things started.
Jhonattan Vegas lines up a putt on the 16th hole during the first round of the BMW Championship Aug. 14, 2025, in Owings Mills, Md. (Rafael Suanes/Imagn Images)
“We grew up near a nine-hole golf course owned by the oil companies, and we had access to a course and, plus the love of my dad for the game, put it together, and we started playing.”
Once he reached his teens, Vegas left Venezuela and relocated to the U.S. He learned English and later took his golf talents to the Texas Longhorns.
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Vegas further cemented his name in history when he won the Bob Hope Classic in 2011, making him the first Venezuelan to win a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. He also represented his native country twice at the Olympics.
On Saturday, Trump described Maduro as being “highly guarded” in a presidential palace that was “a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas.” Maduro had nearly made it to a safe room inside it, Trump told reporters, although “he was unable to close it.”
President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In an interview earlier Saturday morning on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump said that American forces were armed with “massive blowtorches,” which they would have used to cut through steel walls had Maduro locked himself in the room.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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