Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman has said he will not support Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim the US presidency, marking a significant defection by a top Republican party donor who defended him in 2020 as the then-president baselessly claimed that the election had been stolen.

“America does better when its leaders are rooted in today and tomorrow, not today and yesterday,” Schwarzman said on Wednesday in a statement first reported by Axios. “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.”

The Blackstone founder is one of several high-profile donors who have publicly criticised Trump in recent weeks, a sign of growing wariness towards the former president’s attempt to return to the White House.