Trump picks Detroit marijuana businessman Mark Savaya as special envoy to Iraq

Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News on Oct 20, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday said he selected Detroit marijuana businessman Mark Savaya to serve as his special envoy to Iraq.

Savaya has owned Leaf and Bud, a Detroit-area chain of medical and recreational marijuana stores.

"Mark’s deep understanding of the Iraq-U.S. relationship, and his connections in the region, will help advance the interests of the American people," Trump posted Sunday on social media.

"Mark was a key player in my campaign in Michigan, where he, and others, helped secure a record vote with Muslim Americans. Congratulations, Mark!"

Savaya was reportedly born in Iraq and is part of the Chaldean American business community in Metro Detroit. Chaldeans are Eastern Rite Catholics, many of whom moved to Metro Detroit starting in the 1920s.

The Chaldean Center of Chicago, a nonprofit cultural organization, praised Trump's appointment of Savaya.

"Mark’s service reflects the values we hold dear — faith, unity, and perseverance — and stands as an inspiration to all Chaldean Americans striving to make a difference both locally and globally," the group said on Instagram.

Savaya responded on social media, thanking the president for picking him. His Instagram page is packed with photos of Savaya with Trump in various venues, including a golf course.

"I am deeply humbled, honored and grateful to President Donald J. Trump for appointing me as Special Envoy to the Republic of Iraq," he wrote. "I am committed to strengthening the U.S.-Iraq partnership under President Trump’s leadership and guidance."

Metro Detroit motorists might recognize Savaya's face smiling out from billboards advertising his marijuana dispensaries along area roadways and on the side of a building along Lafayette Boulevard.

Michigan voters approved recreational sales of cannabis in 2018, and medical use was legalized a decade before. It remains illegal under federal law.

Savaya's Leaf and Bud chain has three marijuana retail stores in Center Line, Hazel Park and on Livernois on Detroit's west side.

The shops have featured Savaya's brand label the Mark Savaya Collection that he told Hour Detroit in 2023 is a strain that he bred himself. Leaf and Bud was an outgrowth of Future Grown Solutions in Birmingham that Savaya founded.

“At Leaf and Bud, we cultivate in-house, from seed to sell. We do cultivation, processing and retail under one roof,” Savaya told C&G Newspapers in 2023.

Savaya also said he works to give those convicted of nonviolent drug offenses a second chance through employment.

“They’re the best workers. They love what they do,” Savaya said. “It’s a win-win situation. They get a second chance in life, and we give hope to the right people.”

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(Detroit News staff writer Craig Mauger contributed to this story.)

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