Jenna Bush Hager once pranked her dad, former President George W. Bush, with a fake tattoo.
“Barbara drew a Texas longhorn in Sharpie right here,” Jenna said of her twin sister Barbara Bush, gesturing at her lower back during a May 21 episode of Jenna & Friends. “I showed my dad and pretended I got one.”
“He believed you … of course,” said TODAY co-host Savannah Guthrie.
“He believed me and he was like, ‘OK, when you’re 80, you know what that’s going to look like,’” recalled Jenna.
Humor is a Bush family trait — starting with Jenna’s grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, whom Jenna’s dad once said had a “corny” sense of humor.
George W. Bush inherited his dad’s love for banter, according to Jenna, who in 2024, said her dad “loved” it when “Saturday Night Live” poked fun at him in skits.
Jenna’s children — Mila, 12, and Poppy, 9 and son Hal, 5 — are mischievous, too.
This year on April Fool’s Day, the pranks “went on a little too long,” Jenna told former TODAY co-host Hoda Kotb.
The first prank was played on Jenna’s husband Hal Hager: Jenna microwaved a bowl of beans and gave them to Hal who claimed to have “pooped my pants” when his dad came home.
Hal then wiped the “poop” (beans) on the clothes of his dad — who didn’t believe it.
Meanwhile, eldest child Mila wrapped her parents’ toilet with cellophane. While Henry was tricked, Mila may have paid the price.
“I had to call her in and say, ‘Now you need to clean up a 45-year-old man’s pee pee,” said Jenna.
In another April Fool’s prank, Jenna told the kids their pet cat Hollywood was pregnant.
Family pranks run all year long — last year, Hal pulled one over his mom after his first day of school.
“I picked Hal up and Mila was with me, and I said, ‘Hal, how was school?’ And he said, ‘Pretty good, but I went to the principal’s office,’” Jenna told Hoda Kotb in 2024. “I was like, day one — I mean, the school day was like, 12 minutes.”
Jenna added, “I go, ‘OK, so why did you go to the principal’s office?’” and Hal’s response was, ‘I squirted apple sauce.’”
When Jenna told her son that she would check in with his Pre-K teacher, “He knew he was busted,” said Jenna, sharing that Hal told the truth by saying, “‘JK (just kidding), I had the best day ever!’”
While Jenna did prank her dad with a fake tattoo, a real one could happen.
On May 21, Jenna and Savannah discussed Savannah’s arm tattoos, tiny hearts designed by her 10-year-old daughter Vale and 8-year-old son Charley and the phrase “all my love” in her dad’s handwriting.
“Would you get a tattoo with me?” Savannah asked Jenna.
“I think I would,” answered Jenna. “I might —I would maybe … I didn’t say no. I think I would, but I’m not 100% sure.”
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