How to Navigate the Holidays on a Weight-Loss Drug

Holiday season means food—and a lot of it, from work events to social gatherings with friends and family.

“When I talk to my patients, instead of calling it the most beautiful time of year, I call it the most challenging time of the year,” says Dr. Andres Acosta, a physician in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at Mayo Clinic.

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For the 12% of adults in the U.S. now taking a weight-loss medication that targets the GLP-1 and/or GIP hormones to restrict appetite or treat diabetes—think Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound—the season is even more complicated.

“We’ve heard of people not skipping their injections but pushing them back,” says Michelle Cardel, chief nutrition officer at WeightWatchers. “So if they normally inject on Wednesday, and Thanksgiving is on Thursday, they might give themselves their injection on Friday instead, so they can have a little more room to enjoy the holiday foods and are less likely to experience unwanted side effects if they overeat.” Others stop the medications for longer periods during the holiday months, doctors say.

In general, doctors don’t recommend changing anything about your injection schedule. Unlike most previous anti-obesity medications, drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound work in part on the brain to dampen hunger signals and reduce appetite so you don’t feel like eating. In order to achieve that effect with the fewest side effects, the dose of the injections that people give themselves once a week have to be ramped up gradually over 16 weeks before people reach the maximum dose that they then maintain. Generally each injection can successfully control hunger signals for about a week, and just as its effect starts to wane, you give yourself another injection.

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Skipping or shifting injections has a domino effect. For those moving from a Wednesday dose to a Friday dose, for example, their future doses will now occur on Friday. And people skipping doses should be prepared to experience the same side effects that they felt when they first start their doses—such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms—when they restart their doses.

“I advise my patients against stopping their medication because we are managing chronic obesity,” Acosta says, and changing an established dosing schedule can have additional consequences. If patients stop their injections for more than one week, they have to return to lower doses and work their way back up to the dose they achieved before they stopped, which further pushes back any weight-loss goals they might have set.

Read More: How to Add More Protein to Your Thanksgiving Recipes

Dr. Andre Teixeira, medical director of the Orlando Health Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery Institute, has seen some serious examples of these spillover effects among his patients. “Some people can’t work back up to the dose where they were before,” he says. Because these are hormone-based medications, he likens the effect to what some women experience on different types of birth control; certain brands are associated with more extreme side effects that make the pills intolerable for some.

And of course, any time patients stop taking Wegovy or Zepbound, their weight eventually goes back up. “I tell my patients that we don’t want to burn all the effort they have put in to lose weight over the whole year over the six weeks of the holidays,” says Acosta.

Instead of messing with their medication, Acosta advises people to plan ahead with dietary and fitness adjustments. On Thanksgiving or Christmas Day, for example, don’t eat large meals earlier in the day. “You don’t need to have a big breakfast or a massive lunch,” Acosta says. “Go exercise that morning—everybody benefits from a long walk or a hike. We’re super good at planning meals and dinners with loved ones; we should also plan to go for a walk in the park with our loved ones. And if the weather isn’t nice, then go the mall. Do something that requires physical activity so you burn some calories.”

He also reminds patients about the consequences of overeating while on the medications, and advises them not to overdo it, even if they might feel pressure to at a family gathering. You might consider letting loved ones know about your situation. Since these drugs are discussed openly on social media and gaining popularity, “it’s become a little more acceptable to share that you are trying to lose weight and using anti-obesity medications.”

And it’s not just navigating food—but alcohol as well—that might be a challenge for people taking the medications. Many experience nausea, vomiting, and other GI issues if they drink while on the medications. WeightWatchers conducted a study to chronicle how anti-obesity medications affected alcohol consumption and found that 45% to 51% of people taking GLP-1 and GIP drugs decreased the amount of alcohol they drank. It wasn’t clear from the study whether people made this change because they wanted to avoid side effects or if they just decided to drink less as part of their overall desire to be healthier. But, says Cardel, “my guess is that it’s a combination of both.”

What’s most important for navigating the holidays is to plan ahead so that if you are taking one of these medications, you can find ways to maximize your enjoyment of long-standing family traditions while still staying on track with your dosing schedule.

source https://time.com/7178870/weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-wegovy-appetite-holidays/

New Rule Allows HIV-Positive Organ Transplants

People with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV under a new rule announced Tuesday by U.S. health officials.

Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The new rule, which takes effect Wednesday, is expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status, by increasing the pool of available organs.

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“This rule removes unnecessary barriers to kidney and liver transplants, expanding the organ donor pool and improving outcomes for transplant recipients with HIV,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement.

The safety of the practice is supported by research, including a study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine. That study followed 198 organ recipients for up to four years, comparing those who received kidneys from HIV-positive donors to those whose kidneys came from donors without HIV. Both groups had similar high rates of overall survival and low rates of organ rejection.

In 2010, surgeons in South Africa provided the first evidence that using HIV-positive donor organs was safe in people with HIV. But the practice wasn’t allowed in the United States until 2013 when the government lifted a ban and allowed research studies.

At first, the studies were with deceased donors. Then in 2019, a team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore performed the world’s first kidney transplant from a living donor with HIV to an HIV-positive recipient.

All told, 500 transplants of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors have been done in the U.S.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

source https://time.com/7198592/hiv-positive-organ-transplants/

A World Without Rice Would Be a World Without Culture

Rice is not just a food—it’s the heartbeat of cultures, a unifying thread that has woven together the histories, traditions, and daily lives of countless communities across the globe. For billions of people, rice is more than a staple; it’s a symbol of identity, heritage, and survival. To imagine a world without rice is to imagine a world without culture, a loss that goes beyond the physical and touches the very soul of humanity.

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As a chef and founder of Fieldtrip, a rice bowl shop in New York City, and author of The Simple Art of Rice, a cookbook focused on rice, I have dedicated my career to understanding and celebrating this essential grain. The idea that rice is culture resonates deeply with the many communities for whom rice is not just a meal but a memory, a story passed down through generations. From the jollof rice of West Africa to the sushi of Japan, rice dishes tell tales of migration, family, and resilience. They serve as reminders of where we come from and who we are.

Read more: Industrial Farming Causes Climate Change. The ‘Slow Food’ Movement Wants to Stop It

One of the most transformative experiences in my life was going to Ghana in 2011. It changed how I looked at food and helped me find myself. On that trip, I truly understood how rice connects so many cultures within the African diaspora. More recently, in Cartagena, Colombia, I felt the same connection with Afro-Latino food. These experiences have shaped my professional relationship with rice, and they continue to inspire me as I create menus that celebrate its cultural importance.

Yet, today, this vital crop faces unprecedented threats from climate change. Extreme weather events, dwindling water resources, and shifting agricultural landscapes are making it increasingly difficult to cultivate rice in the traditional ways that have sustained us for centuries. Experts predict that global rice production will shrink by 15% by 2050, even as demand increases, signaling a troubling trend for the future.

With a monthly purchase of around 5,000 pounds of rice for my restaurants, I have developed a deep appreciation for its role in feeding families and communities—and an understanding of why it’s crucial for chefs to engage with initiatives that combat climate change. I’ve been involved in the James Beard Foundation’s Climate Solutions for Restaurant Survival campaign, advocating for legislation that supports climate-smart agriculture and emphasizing the need for a sustainable, resilient supply chain in the restaurant industry. During Climate Week NYC in September, I spoke on a panel with Food Tank and the James Beard Foundation and partnered with the Gates Foundation, which is committed to ensuring children around the world have access to essential food staples like rice, to highlight childhood malnutrition.

Rice is a critical source of food for billions of people, but the impact of climate change on the crop goes beyond its nutritional value. Warmer temperatures and extreme weather threaten to erase the cultural narratives embedded in each grain. What happens to our cultural identity when the rice fields dry up? What stories will we lose when the next generation can no longer cook the dishes their ancestors did?

We cannot afford to lose rice—or the rich cultures it sustains. So, instead of imagining a world without this essential crop, we should focus on how to adapt and innovate to protect it.

For example, we could cut methane emissions by curbing flooding or adding fish, ducks, or crawfish into the production system. By adopting these sustainable methods, we can build a resilient future for rice cultivation while preserving the cultural heritage tied to this vital grain. Farmers in Vietnam are already utilizing these integrated rice-fish farming systems, which not only reduce emissions by lowering the need for continuous flooding but also improve biodiversity and soil health.

The challenge, however, extends beyond just protecting a crop. It’s about innovating to meet the demands of a rapidly changing climate. As temperatures rise and weather patterns become more unpredictable, we must embrace methods that make rice production more sustainable and climate-resilient. This includes developing drought-resistant rice strains, optimizing irrigation practices to conserve water, and leveraging precise agriculture to minimize waste. Rice farmers like Lundberg Farms have adopted a regenerative organic agriculture system rather than use traditional rice farming methods. With this system they rehabilitate soil, respect animal welfare, and support farmers, while sequestering carbon and reaping more nutritious and abundant yields. By adopting such forward-thinking approaches, we can ensure that rice continues to thrive despite the environmental challenges ahead.

In this fight against climate change, we all have a role to play—from farmers and consumers to chefs and policymakers. Together, by embracing sustainable practices, preserving cultural heritage, and advocating for systemic change, we can ensure that rice remains a symbol of abundance, unity, and nourishment for generations to come.                                                                                       

A life without rice is a life without culture. Let’s make sure that’s a future we never have to face.

source https://time.com/7178113/rice-climate-change/

Uruguay Elects Leftist Yamandú Orsi President, as Conservative Continuity Candidate Concedes

MONTEVIDEO — Uruguay’s leftist opposition candidate, Yamandú Orsi, claimed victory in a tight presidential runoff Sunday, ousting the conservative governing coalition and making the South American nation the latest to rebuke the incumbent party in a year of landmark elections.

Even as the vote count continued, Álvaro Delgado, the presidential candidate of the center-right ruling coalition, conceded defeat to his challenger.

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“With sadness, but without guilt, we can congratulate the winner,” he told supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital of Montevideo

Fireworks erupted over the stage where Orsi, 57, a working-class former history teacher and two-time mayor from Uruguay’s Broad Front coalition, thanked his supporters as crowds flocked to greet him.

“The country of liberty, equality and fraternity has triumphed once again,” he said, vowing to unite the nation of 3.4 million people after such a tight vote.

“Let’s understand that there is another part of our country who have different feelings today,” he said. “These people will also have to help build a better country. We need them too.”

With nearly all the votes counted, electoral officials reported that Orsi won just over 49% of the vote, ahead of Delgado’s 46%. The rest cast blank votes or abstained in defiance of Uruguay’s enforced compulsory voting. Turnout reached almost 90%.

While failing to entice apathetic young voters, Uruguay’s lackluster electoral campaigns steered clear of the anti-establishment fury that has vaulted populist outsiders to power elsewhere in the world, like in the United States and neighboring Argentina.

After weeks in which the moderate rivals appeared tied in the polls, Delgado’s concession ushers in Orsi as Uruguay’s new leader and cuts short the center-right Republican coalition’s shot at governing. The 2019 election of President Luis Lacalle Pou spelled an end to 15 consecutive years of rule by the Broad Front.

“I called Yamandú Orsi to congratulate him as President-elect of our country,” Lacalle Pou wrote on social media platform X, adding that he would “put myself at his service and begin the transition as soon as I deem it appropriate.”

Orsi’s victory was the latest sign that simmering discontent over post-pandemic economic malaise favors anti-incumbent candidates. In the many elections that took place during 2024, voters frustrated with the status quo have punished ruling parties from the U.S. and Britain to South Korea and Japan.

But unlike elsewhere in the world, Orsi is a moderate with no radical plans for change. He largely agrees with his opponent on key voter concerns like driving down the childhood poverty rate, now at a staggering 25%, and containing an upsurge in organized crime that has shaken the nation long considered among Latin America’s safest.

Despite Orsi’s promise to lead a “new left” in Uruguay, his platform resembles the mix of market-friendly policies and welfare programs that characterized the Broad Front’s tenure from 2005-2020.

The coalition of leftist and center-left parties presided over a period of robust economic growth and pioneering social reforms that won widespread international acclaim.

The driving force behind Uruguay’s legalization of abortion, same-sex marriage and sale of marijuana a decade ago was former President José “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-Marxist guerilla who became a global icon and mentor to Orsi.

Mujica, now 89 and recovering from esophageal cancer, turned up at his local polling station before balloting even began on Sunday to praise Orsi’s humility and Uruguay’s proud stability.

“This is no small feat,” he said of his nation’s “citizenry that respects formal institutions.”

Specific proposals by Orsi include tax incentives to lure investment and revitalize the critical agricultural sector, as well as social security reforms that would lower the retirement age but fall short of a radical overhaul sought by Uruguay’s unions that failed to pass in the Oct. 27 general election during which neither front-runner secured an outright majority.

In keeping with the nation’s reputation for being sensible, voters rejected generous pay-outs and the redistribution of privately managed pension funds in favor of fiscal constraint.

He is also likely to scupper a trade agreement with China that Lacalle Pou had pursued to the chagrin of Mercosur, an alliance of South American nations promoting regional commerce.

“He’s my candidate, not only for my sake but also for my children’s,” said Yeny Varone, a nurse at a polling station who voted for Orsi.“In the future they’ll have better working conditions, health and salaries.”

Delgado, 55, a rural veterinarian with a long career in the National Party, served most recently as Secretary of the Presidency for Lacalle Pou and campaigned under the slogan “re-elect a good government.”

With inflation easing and the economy expected to expand by some 3.2% this year, Delgado has promised to continue pursuing his predecessor’s pro-business policies. Lacalle Pou, who constitutionally cannot run for a second consecutive term, has enjoyed high approval ratings.

But the official results trickling in Sunday showed that mounting complaints in Uruguay about years of sluggish economic growth, stagnant wages and the government’s struggle to contain crime after five years helped swing the election against Delgado.

Still, Orsi struck a conciliatory tone.

“I will be the President who calls for national dialogue again and again, who builds a more integrated society and country,” he said, adding that he would get to work immediately.

“Starting tomorrow, I’ll have to work very hard, there’s a lot to do,” he told The Associated Press from the glass-walled NH Columbia hotel, thronged friends and colleagues embracing and congratulating him.

The win after such the hard-fought race, he said, gave him a “a strange feeling that I think takes a while to come to terms with.”

His government will take office on March 1, 2025.

—Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre in Villa Tunari, Bolivia, contributed to this report.

source https://time.com/7178949/uruguay-election-runoff-results-delgado-concedes-leftist-president-yamandu-orsi/

Chuck Woolery, Smooth-Talking Host of Love Connection and Wheel of Fortune, Dies at 83

NEW YORK (AP) — Chuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of Wheel of Fortune, Love Connection, and Scrabble who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about COVID-19, has died. He was 83.

Mark Young, Woolery’s podcast co-host and friend, said in an email early Sunday that Woolery died at his home in Texas with his wife, Kristen, present. “Chuck was a dear friend and brother and a tremendous man of faith, life will not be the same without him,” Young wrote.

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Woolery, with his matinee idol looks, coiffed hair and ease with witty banter, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978.

In 1983, Woolery began an 11-year run as host of TV’s Love Connection, for which he coined the phrase, “We’ll be back in two minutes and two seconds,” a two-fingered signature dubbed the “2 and 2.” In 1984, he hosted TV’s Scrabble, simultaneously hosting two game shows on TV until 1990.

Love Connection, which aired long before the dawn of dating apps, had a premise that featured either a single man or single woman who would watch audition tapes of three potential mates and then pick one for a date.

A couple of weeks after the date, the guest would sit with Woolery in front of a studio audience and tell everybody about the date. The audience would vote on the three contestants, and if the audience agreed with the guest’s choice, Love Connection would offer to pay for a second date.

Woolery told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2003 that his favorite set of lovebirds was a man aged 91 and a woman aged 87. “She had so much eye makeup on, she looked like a stolen Corvette. He was so old he said, ‘I remember wagon trains.’ The poor guy. She took him on a balloon ride.”

Other career highlights included hosting the shows Lingo, Greed, and The Chuck Woolery Show, as well as hosting the short-lived syndicated revival of The Dating Game from 1998 to 2000 and an ill-fated 1991 talk show. In 1992, he played himself in two episodes of TV’s Melrose Place.

Woolery became the subject of the Game Show Network’s first attempt at a reality show, Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned, which premiered in 2003. It shared the title of the pop song in 1968 by Woolery and his rock group, the Avant-Garde. It lasted six episode and was panned by critics.

Woolery began his TV career at a show that has become a mainstay. Although most associated with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, Wheel of Fortune debuted Jan. 6, 1975, on NBC with Woolery welcoming contestants and the audience. Woolery, then 33, was trying to make it in Nashville as a singer.

Wheel of Fortune started life as Shopper’s Bazaar, incorporating Hangman-style puzzles and a roulette wheel. After Woolery appeared on The Merv Griffin Show singing Delta Dawn, Merv Griffin asked him to host the new show with Susan Stafford.

“I had an interview that stretched to 15, 20 minutes,” Woolery told The New York Times in 2003. “After the show, when Merv asked if I wanted to do a game show, I thought, ‘Great, a guy with a bad jacket and an equally bad mustache who doesn’t care what you have to say—that’s the guy I want to be.’”

NBC initially passed, but they retooled it as Wheel of Fortune and got the green light. After a few years, Woolery demanded a raise to $500,000 a year, or what host Peter Marshall was making on Hollywood Squares. Griffin balked and replaced Woolery with weather reporter Pat Sajak.

“Both Chuck and Susie did a fine job, and Wheel’did well enough on NBC, although it never approached the kind of ratings success that Jeopardy! achieved in its heyday,” Griffin said in Merv: Making the Good Life Last, an autobiography from the 2000s co-written by David Bender. Woolery earned an Emmy nod as host.

Born in Ashland, Kentucky, Woolery served in the U.S. Navy before attending college. He played double bass in a folk trio, then formed the psychedelic rock duo The Avant-Garde in 1967 while working as a truck driver to support himself as a musician.

The Avant-Garde, which toured in a refitted Cadillac hearse, had the Top 40 hit “Naturally Stoned,” with Woolery singing, “When I put my mind on you alone/ I can get a good sensation/ Feel like I’m naturally stoned.”

After The Avant-Garde broke up, Woolery released his debut solo single “I’ve Been Wrong” in 1969 and several more singles with Columbia before transitioning to country music by the 1970s. He released two solo singles, “Forgive My Heart” and “Love Me, Love Me.”

Woolery wrote or co-wrote songs for himself and everyone from Pat Boone to Tammy Wynette. On Wynette’s 1971 album We Sure Can Love Each Other, Woolery wrote “The Joys of Being a Woman” with lyrics including “See our baby on the swing/ Hear her laugh, hear her scream.”

After his TV career ended, Woolery went into podcasting. In an interview with The New York Times, he called himself a gun-rights activist and described himself as a conservative libertarian and constitutionalist. He said he hadn’t revealed his politics in liberal Hollywood for fear of retribution.

He teamed up with Mark Young in 2014 for the podcast Blunt Force Truth and soon became a full supporter of Donald Trump while arguing minorities don’t need civil rights and causing a firestorm by tweeting an antisemitic comment linking Soviet Communists to Judaism.

“President Obama’s popularity is a fantasy only held by him and his dwindling legion of juice-box-drinking, anxiety-dog-hugging, safe-space-hiding snowflakes,” he said.

Woolery also was active online, retweeting articles from Conservative Brief, insisting Democrats were trying to install a system of Marxism and spreading headlines such as “Impeach him! Devastating photo of Joe Biden leaks.”

During the early stages of the pandemic, Woolery initially accused medical professionals and Democrats of lying about the virus in an effort to hurt the economy and Trump’s chances for reelection to the presidency.

“The most outrageous lies are the ones about COVID-19. Everyone is lying. The CDC, media, Democrats, our doctors, not all but most, that we are told to trust. I think it’s all about the election and keeping the economy from coming back, which is about the election. I’m sick of it,” Woolery wrote in July 2020.

Trump retweeted that post to his 83 million followers. By the end of the month, nearly 4.5 million Americans had been infected with COVID-19 and more than 150,000 had died.

Just days later, Woolery changed his stance, announcing his son had contracted COVID-19. “To further clarify and add perspective, COVID-19 is real and it is here. My son tested positive for the virus, and I feel for of those suffering and especially for those who have lost loved ones,” Woolery posted before his account was deleted.

Woolery later explained on his podcast that he never called COVID-19 “a hoax” or said “it’s not real,” just that “we’ve been lied to.” Woolery also said it was “an honor to have your president retweet what your thoughts are and think it’s important enough to do that.”

In addition to his wife, Woolery is survived by his sons Michael and Sean and his daughter Melissa, Young said.

source https://time.com/7178913/chuck-woolery-dies/

Earth Bids Farewell to Its Temporary ‘Mini Moon’

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Planet Earth is parting company with an asteroid that’s been tagging along as a “mini moon” for the past two months.

The harmless space rock will peel away on Monday, overcome by the stronger tug of the sun’s gravity. But it will zip closer for a quick visit in January.

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NASA will use a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid then. That should deepen scientists’ understanding of the object known as 2024 PT5, quite possibly a boulder that was blasted off the moon by an impacting, crater-forming asteroid.

While not technically a moon—NASA stresses it was never captured by Earth’s gravity and fully in orbit—it’s “an interesting object” worthy of study.

The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid’s “mini moon behavior,” Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations so far.

Currently more than 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, the object is too small and faint to see without a powerful telescope. It will pass as close as 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) of Earth in January, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055. That’s almost five times farther than the moon.

First spotted in August, the asteroid began its semi jog around Earth in late September, after coming under the grips of Earth’s gravity and following a horseshoe-shaped path. By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast—more than double its speed from September—to hang around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California’s Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.

source https://time.com/7178891/earth-temporary-mini-moon-leaving/

Why CEOs Are Cheering Donald Trump’s Pick for Treasury Secretary

The announcement that President-elect Donald Trump’s long-anticipated pick for Treasury Secretary will be hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is being received well by business leaders and markets, who are reassured that Bessent finally emerged on top after a selection process and jockeying by top candidates.

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Indeed, I heard from several CEOs who had been on edge over the last couple of weeks as Trump’s search for Treasury Secretary remained unfinished, raising different sets of concerns about other contenders. By far, Bessent, a global macro investor, was the only contender who CEOs viewed as qualified and competent and able to work constructively with Trump. As I told The Washington Post, “Bessent has the backing of everybody on Wall Street.”

Bessent has spent much of his career avoiding the spotlight. Still, he has a reputation as an experienced investor and savvy businessman and entrepreneur with decades of expertise navigating macro markets. The list of Bessent’s supporters, mentors and business partners reads as a who’s who of Wall Street across institutions and political parties.

After getting his start on Wall Street as an intern to a legendary investor, Jim Rogers, Bessent worked at Brown Brothers Harriman before joining up with Jim Chanos, the short seller who correctly predicted the downfall of Enron, Wirecard, and other corporate disasters. Bessent then became a partner to George Soros at Soros Fund Management, where alongside Stanley Druckenmiller, he was a driving force behind perhaps Soros’ most famous trade, his 1992 shorting of the British pound which won Soros, Bessent and their team over $1 billion in profits.

Roughly half of $ 4 billion capital behind Bessent’s own firm, Key Square, came from Soros investment. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would be the first openly-gay Treasury Secretary in U.S. history. He is a graduate of Yale and a generous supporter of the university.

The business community expects Bessent to reach out and work closely with business leaders, as well as policymakers from both sides of the aisle, to create economic growth and usher in the “golden age” of American economic opportunity Trump touts. Unlike some of Trump’s other cabinet selections, Bessent is regarded as a problem solver whose support bridges ideological and sector divides. Bessent is a longtime Republican and a loyal supporter of Trump, but he has also given generously to Democratic presidential candidates, including Al Gore and Barack Obama. He was supported in his bid for Treasury Secretary by individuals as different as  former Trump National Economic Council and Fox Business channel anchor Larry Kudlow, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Evercore Senior Chairman Roger Altman, and Hayman Capital Founder Kyle Bass. 

Bessent’s approach should help when it comes to key issues, such as tariffs, where business leaders are most apprehensive about Trump’s economic policy. While Bessent has expressed strong support for tariffs, so too have many CEOs—as long as tariffs are targeted, selective and carefully executed. Bessent discounts the inflationary effect that worries most economists about tariffs and the likelihood of punishing retaliatory moves from trading partners creating barriers for US exports many CEOs fear as he believes Trump’s plan is just to threaten these measures as negotiation tools.

Sure, Bessent will have his work cut out for him in striking a balance between driving American economic growth and satisfying Trump’s tariff whims, but the business community is eager to engage as partners in charting a constructive path forward. Trump’s Trump’s selection of Bessent increases the chances of that happening.

Bessent’s nomination shows he was able to hold his ground against powerful opponents in the Trump camp. Economists and business leaders will have differences his decisions but will respect his decision-making style. Bessent’s track record of engagement provides a genuine reason for optimism for the American economy’s growth. 

source https://time.com/7178829/why-ceos-are-cheering-donald-trump-bessent-pick-for-treasury-secretary/