Slip-ups Made by World Leaders Believing No One Is Listening

This week, Indonesian President 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 captured Prabowo requesting Trump to arrange a meeting with his son Eric, who hold positions at the Trump organization.

This was just one in a series of gaffes made by international figures when they assume no one can hear them.

Below are several additional memorable errors:

Transplant Procedures and Everlasting Life

At a military parade in Beijing in early autumn, Chinese President 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 not visible, responded in Chinese: "Experts forecast that in this century humans may live to 150 years old."

Dialogue heard between China's leader Xi Jinping and Moscow's head Vladimir Putin

'Sea Rising at Your Door'

Former Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton came under fire in 2015 when he joked about the plight of residents in the Pacific facing rising sea levels.

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

Observing how a migration discussion was running on "Cape York time", Abbott replied: "There was a bit of that up in Port Moresby."

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

The comments provoked anger from Pacific Islands and climate activists, 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 faced a voter who questioned him on migration and the economy.

Remaining connected to a Sky news microphone when he entered the car, Brown was recorded stating: "That went terribly – they should never have put me with that woman. Whose idea was that? Ridiculous."

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

The scandal dominated headlines for an extended period and Brown went on to lose the election.

'I Cannot Bear Netanyahu. He Lies.'

Ex-American leader Barack Obama was in discussion at the international conference in Cannes in 2011 with France's leader Nicolas Sarkozy when their comments about Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu were picked up by a live microphone.

Sarkozy stated: "I cannot bear 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 vintage recording incident from then US presidential candidate George W. Bush occurred when he made a negative comment 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, "That's Adam Clymer, complete jerk from the New York Times."

Cheney responded: "Oh yeah, he is, big time."

Bush at a Labour rally in 2000
Madison Olson
Madison Olson

A seasoned content strategist with over a decade of experience in digital marketing and brand storytelling.