Slip-ups From World Leaders When They Think They're in Private

This week, Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a private conversation with American leader Donald Trump at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt.

However, a live microphone situation captured Prabowo asking Trump to organize a call with his son Don Jr, who serve as executives at the family business.

This was just one in a string of missteps made by world leaders thinking they're off the record.

Here are five other noteworthy errors:

Organ Transplants and Immortality

At a military parade in Beijing in early autumn, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's head Vladimir Putin were overheard talking about organ transplants as a approach for prolonging life.

"Human organs can be repeatedly transplanted. The longer you live, the more youthful you get, and you can even achieve immortality," Putin's interpreter was recorded stating.

Xi, who was not visible, answered in Chinese: "Experts forecast that in the current era humans may live to 150 years old."

A conversation heard between China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin

'Sea Rising at Your Door'

Ex-Australia immigration minister Peter Dutton faced criticism in 2015 when he joked about the situation of residents in the Pacific facing ocean encroachment.

Dutton was conversing with then-prime minister Tony Abbott, who had just returned from climate change talks with regional heads in Port Moresby.

Observing how a meeting about refugees was running on "Cape York time", Abbott responded: "There was a similar situation up in Port Moresby."

Dutton commented: "Schedules become irrelevant when you're about to have water lapping at your door."

These remarks sparked outrage from regional nations and environmentalists, while the opposition Labor party demanded Dutton to apologise.

Peter Dutton overheard joking with Tony Abbott about coastal flooding

'Bigoted Woman'

As Labour prime minister Gordon Brown was campaigning in 2010, he encountered a constituent who questioned him on immigration and the economy.

Still wired up to a Sky news microphone when he entered the car, Brown was recorded stating: "That was a disaster – they should not have placed me with that individual. Whose idea was that? Ridiculous."

When questioned about she had said, he answered: "All topics, she was just a prejudiced person."

The scandal dominated headlines for an extended period and Brown ultimately lost the political race.

'I Cannot Bear Netanyahu. He Lies.'

Ex-American leader Barack Obama was in discussion at the international conference in Cannes in 2011 with then French president Nicolas Sarkozy when their remarks about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were captured by a active recording device.

Sarkozy said: "I can't stand Netanyahu. He's a liar."

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

'Major League ***hole'

A classic hot-mic moment from then US presidential candidate George W. Bush occurred when he made a negative comment about a journalist from The New York Times.

The Republican presidential nominee was didn't realize that a recording device was active when he leaned over to Dick Cheney at a political event and said, "That's Adam Clymer, complete jerk from the New York Times."

Cheney answered: "Absolutely, he is, definitely."

Bush at a political gathering in 2000
Richard Cox
Richard Cox

A tech enthusiast and writer passionate about digital transformation and emerging technologies in Europe.