NewsTracker Answers for week of Oct. 08, 2018

Q: President Donald Trump told a rally last week that he warned Saudi Arabia’s King Salman he would not last in power “for two weeks” without the backing of the U.S. military. Where is Saudi Arabia?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Saudi Arabia was the first nation Trump visited as president, and he has strongly backed the Saudis in their rivalry with which nation across the Persian Gulf?

A. Iran

B. Iraq

C. Kuwait

D. Qatar


A. Iran has the world’s largest population of Shia Muslims, while Saudi Arabia is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims. The often bloody rivalry between Sunnis and Shiites goes back to a dispute over who was the proper successor to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad who died in 632. Religious leaders have great influence in both countries.


Q: President Trump has been complaining about Saudi leaders over what issue?

A. Attacks on dissidents

B. Price of oil

C. Support for terrorism

D. War in Yemen


B. “We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices,” Trump recently told the UN. But, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said “we’ve bought everything with money” when it comes to defense. Some have linked higher fuel prices to new U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil sales.


Q: Since becoming crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman has cracked down on rivals and dissidents. A prominent journalist who was critical of Saudi Arabia’s leadership disappeared last week after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the capital of ...

A. Egypt

B. Iraq

C. Jordan

D. Turkey


D. Turkish officials said they believed journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. Khashoggi had fled Saudi Arabia for the U.S. after Mohammed was named crown prince, and he has been criticizing arrests of dissidents and the war in Yemen. The prince has said about 1,500 people were detained over the past three years, calling them national security threats.


Q: Khashoggi’s disappearance threatens to worsen the strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Turkey has backed what Persian Gulf nation in its dispute with Saudi Arabia?

A. Algeria

B. Lebanon

C. Qatar

D. Sudan


C. Saudi Arabia has led other Arab nations in trying to isolate and blockade the small Persian Gulf state of Qatar because of its diplomatic overtures to Iran and other issues. Turkey provided diplomatic and food support to Qatar during its dispute with its neighbors.