In Contrast to His 2022 Refusal, Blackstone’s CEO Has Now Backed Donald Trump for President

The mega-rich Blackstone Group chairman and CEO, Stephen A. Schwarzman, has declared his intention to support the 2020 presidential campaign of former president Donald J. Trump.

In a surprising turn of events, he informed Axios that his intention to support Trump in 2024 is a 'vote for change.' Schwarzman, like many other prominent Wall Street supporters of Trump, cut ties with the former president soon after the 2020 election and efforts to reverse its outcomes.

Schwarzman, however, claims that he now agrees with 'the concern of most Americans that our economic, immigration and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction.' Concerning Biden's political platform, he voiced his doubts as well.

He said, "The dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency." Some big contributors to the former president are getting back into the fold, and his choice to back Trump is part of that. Trump is also receiving new backing from influential figures in the banking and IT sectors.

Even though they had earlier spoken out against his conduct during the disturbance at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, other billionaires such as hotel magnate Robert Bigelow, Wall Street investor Nelson Peltz, and oil and natural gas CEO Harold Hamm are now supporting the former president.

In his pursuit of financial support, the former president has been reaching out to billionaires in the fields of energy, technology, and finance for injections of capital, and Schwarzman's declaration may signal the beginning of a flood of further funds from Wall Street to the ex-president.

Trump made a sweeping tour of Texas on Wednesday in an effort to solicit donations from oil magnates who are unhappy with Biden's climate and environmental policies. Among the oil tycoons who hosted Trump in the southern state were Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub and Continental Resources chair Harold Hamm.

As reported by the Washington Post, Trump promised to approve energy infrastructure projects immediately upon his January return to office. As per the outlet, Trump also declared at the fundraiser, "I approved the Keystone pipeline, and I approved the Dakota Access pipeline."

The millionaire chairman and CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, the company that constructed the Dakota Access pipeline, Kelcy Warren, was one of the co-hosts of the fundraising on Wednesday. According to Federal Election Commission reports, Warren gave tens of thousands of dollars to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's primary opponents, during the GOP presidential primary.

Warren now seems to be solidly in Trump's side. Apart from co-ordinating the $250,000-per-attendee Houston event, he also contributed $800,000 to the Trump campaign for the whole 2024 election cycle. The event included photographs and continued for many hours. Throughout the almost hour-long address, Trump spoke with guests and posed for photos with wealthy donors.

Trump did not request a particular number of campaign contributions from the oil CEOs during his address on Wednesday. He concluded his statement with a request for generosity after outlining his energy record and making policy commitments. According to one participant, the event raised almost $25 million.