Slip-ups Made by World Heads of State When They Think They're in Private

Recently, Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto believed he was a private conversation with US President Donald Trump at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt.

Instead, a hot-mic incident revealed Prabowo asking Trump to organize a meeting with his son Eric, who hold positions at the family business.

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

Below are five other noteworthy errors:

Transplant Procedures and Everlasting Life

During a defense ceremony in Beijing this September, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were overheard discussing organ replacement as a method for prolonging life.

"Vital organs can be continuously replaced. The longer you live, the more youthful you get, and it's possible to even reach eternal life," Putin's interpreter was recorded stating.

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

A conversation recorded from China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin

'Water Lapping at Your Door'

Former Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton came under fire in 2015 when he joked about the situation of people in the Pacific experiencing rising sea levels.

Dutton was conversing with former PM Tony Abbott, who had just returned from climate change talks with regional heads in Port Moresby.

Noting that a meeting about refugees was running on "delayed schedule", Abbott replied: "There was a bit of that up in Port Moresby."

Dutton added: "Schedules become irrelevant when you're about to have the ocean reaching your home."

The comments provoked anger from regional nations and climate activists, while the political opponents called for Dutton to issue an apology.

Peter Dutton overheard joking with Tony Abbott about rising sea levels

'Bigoted Woman'

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

Remaining connected to a broadcast microphone when he got into his vehicle, Brown was heard saying: "That was a disaster – they should never have put me with that individual. Whose idea was that? Absurd."

Asked what she had said, he replied: "All topics, she was just a prejudiced person."

This incident dominated headlines for weeks and Brown went on to lose the election.

'I Cannot Bear 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 remarks about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were captured by a active recording device.

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

Per a version from a translator quoted by Reuters, Obama replied: "You're fed up with him but I have to deal with him more often than you."

'Total ***hole'

A classic recording incident from then US presidential candidate George W. Bush happened as he made a disparaging remark about a journalist from The New York Times.

The Republican presidential nominee was didn't realize that a microphone was live when he turned to Dick Cheney at a Labor Day rally and said, "There's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times."

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

Bush at a political gathering in 2000
Steven Miller
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