Blunders Made by Global Heads of State Believing No One Is Listening

This week, Indonesia's leader Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a confidential discussion 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.

This was just one in a series of missteps committed by international figures thinking no one can hear them.

Below are five other memorable blunders:

Organ Transplants and Immortality

At a military parade in Beijing in early autumn, China's leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were overheard talking about organ replacement as a method for prolonging life.

"Vital organs can be continuously transplanted. The longer you live, the younger you become, and it's possible to even achieve immortality," Putin's interpreter was heard saying.

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

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

'Water Lapping at Your Door'

Former Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton faced criticism in 2015 when he joked about the plight of people in the Pacific experiencing ocean encroachment.

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

Noting that a meeting about refugees was running on "Cape York time", Abbott replied: "There was 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."

These remarks provoked anger from Pacific Islands and environmentalists, while the opposition Labor party demanded Dutton to apologise.

Peter Dutton overheard joking with Tony Abbott about rising sea levels

'Bigoted Woman'

While serving as UK PM Gordon Brown was on the trail in 2010, he encountered a constituent who questioned him on migration and the economy.

Remaining connected to a Sky news microphone when he got into his vehicle, Brown was recorded stating: "That went terribly – they should never have put me with that individual. Who thought of that? Ridiculous."

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

This incident dominated headlines for an extended period and Brown went on to lose the political race.

'I Cannot Bear Netanyahu. He Lies.'

Ex-American leader Barack Obama was in conversation at the G20 summit in Cannes in 2011 with France's leader Nicolas Sarkozy when their comments about Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu were picked up by a active recording device.

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

According to a version from a translator 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 then US presidential candidate George W. Bush happened as he made a disparaging remark about a reporter from The New York Times.

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

Cheney responded: "Oh yeah, he is, definitely."

Bush at a Labour rally in 2000
Robert Castaneda
Robert Castaneda

A tech enthusiast and writer with over 10 years of experience in reviewing gadgets and covering industry trends.