Slip-ups From World Heads of State Believing They're in Private

Recently, Indonesia's leader Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a confidential discussion with US President Donald Trump during Middle East peace talks in Egypt.

However, a hot-mic incident captured Prabowo asking Trump to organize a call with his son Don Jr, both of whom hold positions at the Trump organization.

It represented only one in a series of missteps made by international figures when they assume no one can hear them.

Here are five other memorable blunders:

Organ Transplants and Immortality

During a defense ceremony in Beijing in early autumn, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were recorded discussing organ replacement as a method for extending lifespan.

"Vital organs can be repeatedly transplanted. The more you extend your life, the more youthful you get, and you can even reach eternal life," Putin's interpreter was recorded stating.

Xi, who was off camera, responded in Chinese: "Experts forecast that in the current era humans may live to 150 years old."

Dialogue recorded from China's leader Xi Jinping and Moscow's head Vladimir Putin

'Sea Rising at Your Door'

Ex-Australia border protection chief Peter Dutton faced criticism in 2015 when he made light about the plight of residents in the Pacific experiencing rising sea levels.

Dutton was speaking to then-prime minister Tony Abbott, who had recently come back from climate change talks with Pacific Island leaders in Port Moresby.

Noting that a meeting about refugees was running on "Cape York time", Abbott responded: "We had a similar situation up in Port Moresby."

Dutton commented: "Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door."

These remarks sparked outrage from regional nations and environmentalists, while the political opponents called for Dutton to apologise.

Peter Dutton overheard joking with Tony Abbott about coastal flooding

'Bigoted Woman'

As Labour prime minister Gordon Brown was on the trail in 2010, he encountered a voter who challenged him on immigration and the economy.

Still wired up to a Sky news microphone when he got into his vehicle, Brown was heard saying: "That was a disaster – they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Ridiculous."

Asked what she had said, he answered: "All topics, she was just a bigoted woman."

The scandal dominated headlines for weeks and Brown ultimately lost the political race.

'I Can't Stand Netanyahu. He Lies.'

Former US president Barack Obama was in conversation at the international conference in Cannes in 2011 with then French president Nicolas Sarkozy when their comments about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were picked up by a active recording device.

Sarkozy stated: "I can't stand Netanyahu. He deceives."

According to a account from a French interpreter quoted by Reuters, Obama responded: "You've had enough but I must work with him frequently than you."

'Total ***hole'

A classic recording incident from former White House hopeful George W. Bush happened as he made a negative comment about a journalist from The New York Times.

The Republican presidential nominee was unaware that a microphone was live when he turned to Dick Cheney at a political event and remarked, "There's Adam Clymer, complete jerk from the New York Times."

Cheney responded: "Oh yeah, that's true, big time."

Bush at a Labour rally in 2000
Jacob Mora
Jacob Mora

Tech enthusiast and business strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and innovation.