Someone prefers to support the new generation
3 wealthy backers dump Trump in two days
Stephen Schwarzman with Trump at the White House.
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Ronald Lauder has supported Republicans a lot in recent years.
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Ken Griffin would support the governor of Florida if he ran.
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Former President Donald Trump lost three wealthy backers within two days, as Ronald Lauder, heir to the Estee Lauder fortune, said he would not support the former president's 2024 White House campaign. Lauder, who has known Trump since college days, was behind his endeavors. To buy the Greenland peninsula when he was president, he backed Republicans with big money in recent years, and he finally threw his weight behind Lee Zeldin in the New York gubernatorial race.
The New York Times and CNBC announced Lauder's departure from "Trump World" on Wednesday afternoon, after sources reported Wednesday morning that a prominent Republican sponsor, Stephen Schwarzman, had also left.
"America works best when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday," Schwarzman, who heads the Blackstone Group, said after Trump announced his intention to run again Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago.
He added, "It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders, and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries."
Schwarzman's exit from Trump's orbit comes after Ken Griffin, a Republican and a major backer, said on Tuesday at a Bloomberg forum that he would support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis if he ran.
A spokesman for Lauder, who has an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion, did not say who he would support in 2024, but Lauder has donated to DeSantis in the past.
On the other hand, Griffin referred to Trump as a "three-time loser," which is similar to what former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie used to describe the former president's record when he criticized him at the Orlando Republican gubernatorial conference Tuesday afternoon.
Just hours before Trump announced his candidacy.
New York businessman Andy Sabin said on Tuesday that he would donate nothing to Trump, after he gave $120,000 for his last and failed election bid.
He said he plans to support DeSantis, and has already given $55,000 to members of DeSantis' campaign, ahead of his landslide victory in the Florida gubernatorial race, according to CNBC.
For his part, Christie told a crowd of Republicans that Trump was not only responsible for the "red wave", which never materialized, in 2022, but for the losses in 2020 and 2018, as well.
Christie has been a longtime political ally of Trump, though he has recently turned into a critic.
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