--- title: Chuck Todd Donald Trump Presidential Insu description: Welcome to the club, Chuck. It’s informal, with no secret handshake, but select. Not many folks get to be cussed out, by name, on national... canonical: https://time.com/5196689/chuck-todd-donald-trump/ author: Adam Clymer article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-12T22:49:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:37:39.387Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What It's Like To Get Cussed Out By the President og:description: Welcome to the club, Chuck Todd og:url: https://time.com/5196689/chuck-todd-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b12a08a9fff8d03/69892a95929fadd9b3befec3/chuck-todd1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Meet the Press - Season 71 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What It's Like To Get Cussed Out By the President twitter:description: Welcome to the club, Chuck Todd twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b12a08a9fff8d03/69892a95929fadd9b3befec3/chuck-todd1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # George W. Bush Called Me a 'Major League Asshole.' Things Are Very Different Now for Chuck Todd—And the Rest of Us Too > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Adam Clymer](https://time.com/author/adam-clymer/) ## Adam Clymer Mar 12, 2018 10:49 PM UTC  Moderator Chuck Todd appears on "Meet the Press" in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. Moderator Chuck Todd appears on "Meet the Press" in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. NBC NewsWire—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Adam Clymer](https://time.com/author/adam-clymer/) ## Adam Clymer Mar 12, 2018 10:49 PM UTC Welcome to the club, [Chuck](http://time.com/3113075/chuck-todd-meet-the-press/). It’s informal, with no secret handshake, but select. Not many folks get to be cussed out, by name, on national television by the President of the United States. The [populations of whole continents with their primitive toilets](http://time.com/5105238/white-house-on-shithole-comment-president-trump-isnt-a-scripted-robot/), sure. But by name, wow! Our public scoldings had some things in common. First, it’s not clear what sent Trump off about you. [When George W. Bush called me a “major league asshole”](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1821563%5F1821568%5F1821597,00.html) at a rally on Labor Day in 2000, his staff had no idea why. I guess Trump’s staff doesn’t even try to explain his tirades.. It turned out that Bush, who had laughed off other critical articles, was soothing his vice presidential running mate. Two days before, I had written a story that made Dick Cheney look bad. It said that in the ten years since he left the Defense Department, [Cheney and his wife had donated $209,842 to charity](http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/02/us/2000-campaign-financial-issue-cheney-trying-remove-issue-promises-forfeit-stock.html), or just over 1 percent of their adjusted gross income of $20,677,742\. Cheney did not like the story and told Bush about it. So when Bush, speaking into a microphone he has said he did not believe was live, pointed me out to Cheney as the bad guy from the New York Times, Cheney responded “Big Time.” That became his nickname inside the Bush-Cheney campaign. In your case, it may not be one particular story, but just years of your tough reporting, perhaps underlined by his bizarre belief that NBC News should genuflect because “[The Apprentice”](http://time.com/4376384/donald-trump-the-apprentice/) made money for NBC. With Trump, who knows? Another common thread to our adventures in presidential condemnation is that both presidents were chided by allies. Bush’s father urged him to apologize. Betsy DeVos, America’s education secretary, said Trump sets a bad example for children by using bad language. But there are big differences, too. “Sleeping son of a bitch” Trump’s critique, is quoted everywhere. “Major league asshole” was often euphemized. [The Times did not quote him directly.](http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/10/weekinreview/correspondence-my-media-moment-bush-league-aside-vaults-onlooker-into-campaign-s.html?scp=36&sq=George+W+Bush&st=nyt) That is probably because of an even greater difference, which enables me to cede the place of honor to you. A Times editor told me that such words would only be printed if used by a President. At the time, Bush was just a candidate President Trump has steadily expanded the Times’ printable vocabulary. And he has given you a singular distinction. Just remember the [Mark Twain](http://time.com/4691031/mark-twain-donald-trump-opinion/) story about the man who was tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail.. Asked to comment, he said “If it weren’t for the honor of it I’d have sooner walked.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5196689/chuck-todd-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5196689/chuck-todd-donald-trump/"},"headline":"George W. Bush Called Me a 'Major League Asshole.' Things Are Very Different Now for Chuck Todd—And the Rest of Us Too","datePublished":"2018-03-12T22:49:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:37:39.387Z","description":"Welcome to the club, Chuck. It’s informal, with no secret handshake, but select. 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