Slip-ups Made by Global Leaders When They Think No One Is Listening
Recently, Indonesia's leader Prabowo Subianto thought he was having a private conversation with US President Donald Trump at the Gaza peace summit in Egypt.
However, a live microphone situation revealed Prabowo requesting Trump to arrange a meeting with his son Eric, both of whom serve as executives at the Trump organization.
This was just one in a string of gaffes made by international figures when they assume no one can hear them.
Below are several additional noteworthy blunders:
Transplant Procedures and Everlasting Life
During a defense ceremony in Beijing this September, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were overheard discussing organ replacement as a approach for prolonging life.
"Vital organs can be repeatedly transplanted. The more you extend your life, the younger you become, and you can even achieve immortality," Putin's interpreter was recorded stating.
Xi, who was off camera, responded in Chinese: "Some predict that in this century people may reach 150 years old."
A conversation heard between China's leader Xi Jinping and Moscow's head Vladimir Putin
'Water Lapping at Your Door'
Former Australian border protection chief Peter Dutton faced criticism in 2015 when he made light about the situation of people in the Pacific facing rising sea levels.
Dutton was speaking to former PM Tony Abbott, who had just returned from environmental talks with Pacific Island leaders in Port Moresby.
Noting that a migration discussion was running on "delayed schedule", Abbott replied: "We had a bit of that up in Port Moresby."
Dutton commented: "Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door."
The comments provoked anger from Pacific Islands and environmentalists, while the political opponents demanded Dutton to issue an apology.
Peter Dutton overheard joking with Tony Abbott about coastal flooding
'Prejudiced Voter'
While serving as UK PM Gordon Brown was on the trail in 2010, he faced a voter who challenged him on migration 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: "All topics, she was just a prejudiced person."
The scandal 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 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 picked up by a live microphone.
Sarkozy said: "I cannot bear Netanyahu. He's a liar."
Per a version from a translator cited by Reuters, Obama responded: "You're fed up with him but I have to deal with him more often than you."
'Major League ***hole'
A classic recording incident from then US presidential candidate George W. Bush occurred when 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, "That's Adam Clymer, complete jerk from the New York Times."
Cheney answered: "Oh yeah, that's true, big time."
Bush at a Labour rally in 2000