Slip-ups From Global Leaders Believing No One Is Listening

This week, Indonesia's leader Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a private conversation with American leader Donald Trump during Middle East peace talks in Egypt.

However, a live microphone situation captured Prabowo asking Trump to arrange a meeting with his son Eric, who hold positions at the family business.

It represented only one in a string of missteps committed by international figures thinking they're off the record.

Here are five other memorable blunders:

Transplant Procedures and Immortality

At a military parade in Beijing in early autumn, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russia's head Vladimir Putin were recorded discussing organ transplants as a approach for extending lifespan.

"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 heard saying.

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

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

'Sea Rising at Your Door'

Former Australian border protection chief Peter Dutton faced criticism in 2015 when he joked about the situation of residents in the Pacific experiencing rising sea levels.

Dutton was speaking to then-prime minister Tony Abbott, who had just returned from environmental talks with regional heads in Port Moresby.

Observing how a migration discussion 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 the ocean reaching your home."

The comments provoked anger from Pacific Islands and environmentalists, while the opposition Labor party called for Dutton to apologise.

Peter Dutton recorded making jokes with Tony Abbott about rising sea levels

'Prejudiced Voter'

While serving as UK PM Gordon Brown was campaigning in 2010, he encountered a voter who questioned him on immigration and the economy.

Remaining connected to a Sky news microphone when he entered the car, Brown was heard saying: "That was a disaster – they should not have placed me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Absurd."

Asked what she had said, he replied: "Everything, she was just a bigoted woman."

This incident received extensive coverage for an extended period and Brown ultimately lost the political race.

'I Can't Stand Netanyahu. He's a Liar.'

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 picked up by a live microphone.

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

According to a account from a French interpreter cited by Reuters, Obama responded: "You're fed up with him but I have to deal with him frequently than you."

'Total ***hole'

A classic hot-mic moment from former White House hopeful George W. Bush occurred when he made a negative comment about a journalist from The New York Times.

The GOP candidate was didn't realize that a recording device was active when he turned to Dick Cheney at a Labor Day rally and said, "That's Adam Clymer, major league asshole from the New York Times."

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

Bush at a political gathering in 2000
Sharon Herrera
Sharon Herrera

A tech-savvy journalist with a passion for uncovering stories that matter in the digital age.