Jenna Bush Hager Reveals on ‘Today’ That Her Father George W. Bush “Wanted To Do An Interpretive Reading” Of A “Very” Angry Letter From Her Grandmother

Jenna Bush Hager shared a hilarious anecdote about her father, former U.S. President George W. Bush, during Friday’s (Aug. 25) broadcast of Today With Hoda & Jenna.

Speaking to her co-host Hoda Kotb, Bush Hager revealed her father “wanted to do an interpretive reading” of an angry letter her grandmother had written her and her father when she was younger.

“My dad actually texted me because my grandmother once wrote us both a very mad letter,” she explained. “She was mad at my behavior because I was playing tennis and I was acting like I do and my dad thought it was hilarious, so he was cheering me on.”

She claimed she didn’t still have the letter because he had told her to throw it away when it made her upset, saying, “Of course, years ago when I opened it, it hurt my feelings, I got in trouble. We all know that feeling of getting in trouble.”

Bush Hager continued. Her father reportedly said he had been “reliving” it with his sister, Dorothy Bush. “We were laughing so hysterically we couldn’t speak,” he told her. “I wish you had it so I could do an interpretive reading.”

Kotb agreed that was the perfect example of how important it is to save those memories to look back on later.

“Even the things that kind of hurt in the moment, if you can really cherish them, it teaches you something,” Bush Hager said. “But also, sometimes the things that hurt will be the things that you laugh at later.”

The former U.S. president has appeared on Today a number of times over the years. Just two years ago, Bush appeared with his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, to promote his book and portrait series.

He also made an unexpected appearance on the show when Bush Hager tried an aging filter to see what she would look like when she’s older, and she realized she looked just like her dad.

“Don’t laugh! I’m a handsome woman,” she told her co-host at the time.

Today with Jenna and Hoda airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.