In a surprise move, Trump picks Assyrian-American as special envoy to Iraq
Donald Trump’s appointment of Assyrian-American Mark Savaya as Special Envoy to Iraq has led some to question whether it is connected to the sudden decision by Iran-aligned forces to reinstate the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU).
President Donald Trump has named Assyrian-American entrepreneur, Mark Savaya, who helped boost Middle Eastern turnout for his campaign, as the new special envoy to the Republic of Iraq. The announcement of the Michigan based entrepreneur was made by Trump on his Truth Social page yesterday, 19 October.
Savaya was born in 1985 in Iraq and is based in Michigan. He is an Assyrian from the Chaldean Catholic Church whose family hails from Tel Keif, a historic town in the Nineveh Plain, a region in Northern Iraq's Assyrian triangle. He is known as the owner of Leaf and Bud, a Detroit chain of medical and recreational marijuana stores.
Savaya has been a long time supporter of Trump and his MAGA movement. His appointment is seen as a way for Trump to thank him for his support, especially in helping win votes in the last election in the state of Michigan, which is home to a large Assyrian community from the Chaldean Church.
A connection with developments in the Nineveh Plain?
News of a decision by the head of the Popular Mobilization Force in Iraq to reinstate the NPU force in the Nineve Plain came on the same day as Trump announced Savaya as his special envoy to Iraq. The timing has left some to wonder whether the two announcements are linked.
Comments by Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli researcher who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 has added to the speculations. Tsurkov was held hostage by the group Kata'ib Hezbollah for 903 days before her release in September 2025.
"Congratulations to Mark Savaya for this important appointment. Mark played an instrumental role in setting me free after 903 days in captivity by Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia serving Iran, without anything given in return. This is terrible news for anyone serving Iran's interests in Iraq and seeking to undermine Iraqi sovereignty", she wrote on X, along with photos of her and Savaya after her release.
The hasty decision by the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces to reinstate the Assyrian NPU force in the Nineveh Plain Region could be understood as a preemptive tactic following the appointment of Savaya. The PMU could be seeking to improve its reputation and try to cast itself as a guardian of the largely Assyrian Christian Nineveh Plain Region by reinstating the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, a force made up exclusively by local Assyrians but ultimately under the chain of command of the PMU.
