President Donald Trump has tapped a marijuana entrepreneur as the US special envoy to Iraq, crediting him with helping rally votes in last year’s election.<\/p>\n
Mark Savaya is the founder of Leaf and Bud, an indoor cannabis-growing company in Detroit with prominent advertising around the city, the largest in the Midwestern state of Michigan.<\/p>\n
“Mark’s deep understanding of the Iraq-US relationship, and his connections in the region, will help advance the interests of the American people,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“Mark was a key player in my campaign in Michigan, where he, and others, helped secure a record vote with Muslim Americans.”<\/p>\n
Savaya is not Muslim but comes from the Chaldean community.<\/p>\n
Marijuana is illegal in Iraq, which maintains the death penalty for major drug trafficking cases.<\/p>\n
Trump won the critical state of Michigan in part by making inroads with its sizable Arab-American community on issues that included the Gaza war.<\/p>\n
Trump nominated another Arab-American from Michigan, Mayor Amer Ghalib of the Detroit-area town of Hamtramck, as ambassador to Kuwait, but his nomination is being held up in the US Senate after scrutiny on his statements on Israel.<\/p>\n
Trump has relied heavily on special envoys, who answer to him and do not need Senate confirmation, over traditional ambassadors.<\/p>\n
Savaya wrote on X that he is “committed to strengthening the US\u2013Iraq partnership under President Trump’s leadership and guidance.”<\/p>\n
sct\/mlm<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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