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Many Iraqis have been preoccupied in recent hours by a photo posted on Tuesday by U.S. Special Envoy to Iraq Mark Savaya on his X account. It appeared to show an old banknote featuring a picture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The old banknote is a 5-dinar note.
The image showed Trump seated across a table holding several red caps bearing one of his favorite slogans, “America is back,” with a cup of soft drink in front of him, as well as an old Iraqi banknote.
Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq from 1979 until 2003, ruling the country through an authoritarian regime.
He was overthrown during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and later was executed in 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity.
According to analysts, there is no known link between Trump and Saddam Hussein. However, Trump cited Saddam as an example during his 2016 election campaign to support his argument for taking “decisive” action against terrorism.
“Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. Really bad guy. But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so well,” Trump said.
Savaya appeared to be leaning toward the U.S. president as he spoke to him, and he captioned the photo, “It was a great day... a great day with the greatest.” He added, “It was my pleasure to see you, sir,” referring to Trump.
However, the details of the meeting and the reason for placing the old Iraqi banknote in front of Trump remain unclear.
Many Iraqis, meanwhile, said the banknote is old and features a picture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Many questioned the reason, while others cast doubt on it, with some suggesting the image may have been manipulated.
Some saw the photo as a political warning to Iraq’s current authorities.
Trump unexpectedly announced in a post on his Truth Social account last October 2025 that Savaya, who is of Iraqi origin, would serve as the special envoy to Iraq.
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