Cavs’ Ricky Rubio stops his NBA career announcing he is taking a mental health break weeks before Spain’s World Cup campaign

• Ricky Rubio announced he is taking a break from his career in a statement
• The Cavaliers guard was set to help Spain defend its world championship in Aug.
• DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

By Patrick Djordjevic For Dailymail.Com

Updated: 14:08 EDT, 5 August 2023

The FBI search of former Donald Trump‘s Florida home has triggered feverish speculation that he will soon announce a 2024 run – exciting supporters but worrying party leaders and donors that he could ruin hopes of retaking the House and Senate in November’s midterms.

‘I think he’s running,’ said Eric Levine, an attorney and longtime Republican fundraiser. ‘The only question is whether he announces before the midterms, which would be a disaster.’

Multiple party insiders told DailyMail.com they fear an early announcement would divert fundraising away from candidates and towards the Trump war chest. 

And it would turn the midterms from being a winnable referendum on Joe Biden‘s presidency – its economic crises and foreign policy missteps – to a Trump versus Biden beauty pageant.

Trump grabbed the initiative by posting a campaign-style video on his Truth Social platform after midnight on Tuesday. He calls America ‘a nation in decline’ and slams Biden before ending with the slogan: ‘The best is yet to come.’

At the same time, he has upped the number of fundraising emails sent to his distribution list.

‘Mar-a-Lago was raided,’ said one sent on Wednesday. ‘The radical left is corrupt.

‘We must return the power to the people.’

FBI agents entered Trump’s home as they investigated the removal of classified records from the White House when his term ended in 2021. 

The result was outrage among Republicans, who accused the Biden administration of politicizing the FBI and the Justice Department.

Allies have been urging Trump to jump straight into the campaign to retake the White House. 

John Fredericks, radio host and chair of the Trump Virginia campaign in 2016 and 2020, said he should announce ‘today’ and launch a tour of swing districts immediately.

‘It leads him to a landslide victory in November 2024, it leads to a massive 50-70 House gain and three in the Senate,’ he said.

‘This has activated the Trump MAGA base like nothing I’ve ever seen. It has activated independents and this is going to backfire on the administrative state and the leftwing Marxists who are now in charge.’

Trump insiders have been divided for months on when to announce. Some have pushed for weeks to announce quickly in order to head off possible opponents, particularly Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who has been making headline and gaining ground.

Others prefer a more conventional route, announcing after November’s midterms.

But Trump himself has floated the idea of announcing ahead of this year’s elections in order to create the biggest splash. 

That fills Republicans working on fall campaigns with dread. 

A senior strategist, working on several midterm campaigns, said an early announcement would be a disaster for hopes of winning back the House and the Senate, diverting fundraising from candidates to Trump. 

‘By taking this action, the FBI has greatly increased the likelihood that Trump will announce his candidacy before November, which Democrats would absolutely love to see,’ said the source, who worked on the 2020 Trump campaign and asked for anonymity to avoid drawing fire on his candidate.

‘If Democrats retain control of the House, the FBI will remain safe from oversight and accountability.’

There is also horror on the Hill that it would let Biden off the hook. He is deeply unpopular and, if the elections follow the usual historical pattern of thumping the party in power, Democrats can expect to lose seats in both the House and Senate.

‘That would be a significant gift to Democrats. he would suck up so much oxygen and remind voters of why he lost last time, instead of thinking about the multiple failures of Joe Biden.’ 

For his part, Levine said the raid on Mar-a-Lago was outrageous. 

‘But the fact that this was outrageous doesn’t necessarily qualify Trump to become president,’ he said.

‘So I don’t think it changed the landscape for running for president at all, but it may change the landscape for when he announces.’

Trump’s grip on the activist base remains tight.

At the weekend, the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas revealed that 69 percent of attendees want Trump as their candidate in 2024.

Donald Trump was talked out of announcing his 2024 presidential bid during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania for Senate candidate Dr. Oz, a report suggests.

NBC News claims the former president was told to stand down by advisors on announcing his White House intentions during the rally where he attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, by calling him ‘DeSanctimonious’ and bragged that he is beating him in the polls. 

His inner circle said it could distract from the Republican bid to take the House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterms. 

But a source told the outlet that he is ‘itching’ to reveal his bid for a second term in office. DailyMail.com has reached out to a Trump spokesman for comment.

Conservatives including Mike Pompeo have criticized Trump for his tirade at DeSantis with just two days before millions of Americans head to the polls.

‘Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] you’ve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis],’ Pompeo tweeted.

Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative called Trump an ‘idiot’ for the attack.

‘DeSantis is a far more effective leader of the Right than Trump was, if, that is, you expect a leader to get a lot done, rather than just talking about it and owning the libs.’ 

Guy Benson, an editor at Town Hall added: ‘When Desantis wins huge on Tuesday, it will be despite Trump — not because of him, as Trump will try to claim. Despite his instinctive, childish pettiness, he’s doing Ron quite a favor.’ 

Axios reported last week that Trump is planning on announcing his campaign on November 14.

Doing so too early means donations and campaign finances are restricted by election laws. 

Trump did the crowd on Saturday night: I don’t want to do that right now because I’d like to do it … I want to have the focus tonight be on Dr. Oz, and Doug Mastriano. Because we have to win, alright?’

Republicans are expected to make gains on Tuesday night, but the margin could determine Trump’s decision. 

Popular Republican governor DeSantis has resisted taking public shots at Trump, perhaps aware of how intertwined their bases are, but has not ruled out the possibility of challenging him in 2024. 

His reluctance to do so has rankled Trump, who has widely taken credit for DeSantis’ rise to political stardom from being just another House Republican to winning a close race for the Tallahassee governor’s mansion in 2018.

But more recently, DeSantis made a national name for himself with his vocal criticism of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 precautions and other attacks, as well as legislation targeting LGBTQ youth.

The vast majority of early 2024 GOP voter polls have put DeSantis right behind Trump in terms of who Republicans want as their next presidential nominee.

Trump has not yet formally declared his intent to run but he’s dropped several hints making it clear where he leans.

‘We’re winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before,’ the former president said on Saturday night.

He asked for poll numbers to be put up on the screen above him. 

‘There it is, Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,’ Trump said derisively.

‘Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought. Liz Cheney there’s no way she’s at 4 percent. There’s no way. There’s no way. But we’re at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.’

Surprisingly, among the first high profile Republicans to rush to DeSantis’ defense was Mike Pompeo – Trump’s former secretary of state and a potential 2024 contender himself.

‘Not tired of winning. [Governor Ron DeSantis] you’ve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for [DeSantis].’

Trump’s inner circle has been eyeing November 14 as the expected date for him to announce a third bid for the White House, Axios reported last week.

DeSantis, meanwhile, is making the closing arguments for his own re-election bid.

He’s running for a second gubernatorial term against Charlie Crist, a House Democrat who previously governed Florida from Tallahassee as a Republican.

Despite staying mum on his presidential ambitions, DeSantis has amassed a massive $200 million war chest for his 2022 re-election bid – an eye-popping sum for a gubernatorial candidate.

His Sunday rallies are part of his ‘Don’t Tread on Florida’ tour.

It’s seeing him go to Lee, Hillsborough and Sarasota counties to gin up voter support today.