Kelsea Ballerini’s dog Dibs was with her in spirit at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
There’s a reason it’s called “TODAY with Jenna & Friends” and not “TODAY with Jenna & George.”
During the Nov. 19 episode of “Today,” Jenna Bush Hager was asked to give her opinion on her father’s recent appearance on Peyton and Eli Manning’s podcast, “Manningcast,” for Monday Night Football.
Hager’s dad is former President George W. Bush.
“Well, he said he was retired so I was surprised as anyone to see him on Monday night,” Bush Hager said of her father.
Joining us now on the ManningCast: President George W. Bush! pic.twitter.com/8uf1wEdhHo
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) November 18, 2025
Hager went on to reveal that he appeared on the Nov. 17 episode of “ManningCast” via a Zoom call from the “comfort of his own art studio,” but has yet to appear as a guest co-host on her own show.
“I’ve actually asked him, and maybe I’ll do a public ask for him to come and be a ‘friend’ since he’s my father,” she said of her previous pleas to have him join her.
Fellow “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie tried to reason with her father’s decision.
“You know what, he didn’t have to leave the house,” Guthrie said of his “ManningCast” appearance. “And he would have to leave the house for you — to come on and be a friend.”
READ MORE: Jenna Bush Hager's daughter had perfect response to brother’s improved behavior over the summer
For reference, George W. Bush spends most of his time in Texas, while his daughter films her show in New York City.
Al Roker, who was sitting next to Hager, suggested that she film one of her shows in Texas so her father wouldn’t have an excuse not to join.
But Hager still had her doubts.
“I’m sure he’ll still say no,” she said. “He says things like, ‘I don’t watch your dumb show.’”
Jenna Bush Hager has appeared on TV with her dad before
George W. Bush has never appeared on her daughter’s show, but he has made several appearances on the “Today” show — and one segment of her former show, “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.”
In 2017, the former President answered a few rapid fire questions from his daughter and Kathie Lee Gifford, and it went exactly how you’d expect it to.
“Do you watch Jenna on the show every day?” Gifford asked, to which Bush replied, “No.”
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Hager then told her dad that he’s “supposed to say yes” before rephrasing the question — and the former President later clarified that he sometimes watches the show and that he’s proud of her.
In 2018, the “Today” show aired an interview between Hager, her father and her grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, as they reflected on the latter’s life following his death.
Then, in 2021, George W. Bush appeared in a segment on “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna” where he talked about immigration.
Her father wasn’t, however, one of the guest co-hosts for “TODAY with Jenna & Friends” when she kicked off her “Family Week” earlier this year.
For the week of March 24, Hager’s family co-hosts included her twin sister, Barbara Bush, her husband, Henry Chase Hager, and two of her cousins, Wendy Stapleton and Sam Bush LeBlond.
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Hager’s mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, has also made appearances on the “Today” show.
