Jenna Bush Hager is opening up about a major cause of tension with her dad, former president George W. Bush, during her younger years.
“There was a period of time when I made bad grades,” the TV host divulged during Friday’s episode of “Today With Jenna & Friends.” When guest co-host Sheinelle Jones appeared skeptical, Hager doubled down, saying they were “bad.”
Jones then asked the mother of three how her parents, George and Laura Bush, would “handle it.”
“My dad would sit with me at that kitchen table and try to teach me math, and we’d get in big fights and I’d cry myself to sleep,” Hager, now 43, laughed.
Jones called the confession “relatable,” adding that she thinks it’s typical of “kitchen tables all over this country at night.”
Hager did not elaborate on exactly when the kitchen table meltdowns occurred — but she and fraternal twin sister Barbara were 19 when their father’s first term as president began in 2001.
Hager married her husband, Henry, in 2008, and they’ve since welcomed kids Mila, 12, Poppy, 10, and Hal, 6.
Despite the past arguments, Hager’s relationship with her father, 79, is in a good state. In September 2024, she admitted that she called the former president in tears over news that her former co-host Hoda Kotb would be leaving the show after 26 years with NBC.
“I don’t know if you’re embarrassed to say this or not, but I think that we should [talk about how] you called your dad. And I remember when you first started working together with me, you were afraid, so she called her dad,” Kotb recalled at the time, referencing Hager nabbing the co-hosting job back in 2019.
Hager jumped in, recalling that George was “happy” for her, but jokingly reminded her that NBC veteran Kotb was “the star.”
“Then I called him last night,” Hager divulged. “At first, he thought something really awful [happened], like I lost a loved one, because of how emotional I was.”
Hager continued, recalling how her father comforted and encouraged her. “And then, he said, ‘Oh, she’s leaving, because it’s time, and you’re going to be fine. It’s your turn. It’s OK.’”