Blackstone CEO Schwarzman to back Trump, Axios reports

    (Reuters) – Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman will support Donald Trump as the former president looks to return to the White House, Axios reported on Friday.

    Schwarzman, one of the biggest political donors on Wall Street, plans to donate to Trump and various Republican Senate candidates, the report said, citing a statement from the CEO.

    Long viewed as a Trump ally, Schwarzman had said in 2022 he would not back the former president, saying it was time for the Republican party to turn to a new generation of leaders. He did not back any candidate in the primaries.

    But concerns about economic, immigration and foreign policies under President Joe Biden, along with “the dramatic rise of antisemitism” in the country, drove his decision to endorse Trump, Schwarzman said in the statement, cited by the report.

    Blackstone did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

    (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)