--- title: Trump Says Barbara Bush Was 'Nasty' to Him in Biography and 'She Should Be' description: President Donald Trump said criticism from the late First Lady Barbara Bush in her new biography did not surprise him. canonical: https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-04-05T14:40:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:52:53.014Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Responds to Barbara Bush's Criticism in Her New Biography og:description: President Donald Trump said criticism from the late First Lady Barbara Bush in her new biography did not surprise him. og:url: https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32b401b8fa620327/698947d58fd2eeeeb035e0ea/donald-trump-barbara-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Meets With Vice Premier Of China At The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Responds to Barbara Bush's Criticism in Her New Biography twitter:description: President Donald Trump said criticism from the late First Lady Barbara Bush in her new biography did not surprise him. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32b401b8fa620327/698947d58fd2eeeeb035e0ea/donald-trump-barbara-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says Barbara Bush Was 'Nasty' to Him in New Biography and 'She Should Be' ## Video: Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dead At 92 [Watch (HLS stream): Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dead At 92](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oDYIf79a.m3u8) (1:18)  _Published 2018-04-17. Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dead At 92_ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2019 2:40 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters before meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at the White House April 04, 2019 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters before meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in the Oval Office at the White House April 04, 2019 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla— Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2019 2:40 PM UTC President Donald Trump said criticism from the late First Lady Barbara Bush in her new biography did not surprise him. “I have heard she was nasty to me, but she should be,” Trump said in an interview the [Washington _Times_](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/apr/4/donald-trump-reacts-barbara-bush-quotes/). “Look what I did to her sons.” The book, _The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of a Dynasty_, which was released April 2, details Bush’s long dislike for Trump that dates back to the 1990s. Bush, who [died last April](https://apnews.com/80d4856e0f464d828afb0b2ff75a20df) at the age of 92, wrote in a [diary entry](http://time.com/5562833/barbara-bush-diary-trump-book/) from 1990, “Trump now means Greed, selfishness and ugly. So sad.” Bush’s disdain for Trump was revived when he mocked her son, Jeb Bush, as they squared off over the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Jeb was considered a potential frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination, but his campaign fell flat. Trump belittled him as “low energy Jeb.” Trump also criticized former President George W. Bush for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. According to the book, written by _USA Today_‘s Susan Page, Barbara Bush was so incensed by Trump’s actions during the 2016 election that she blamed him for what she called a “heart attack.” By the end of her life, she said she no longer considered herself a Republican. Trump said he understood Bush’s anger toward him. “Look, she’s the mother of somebody that I competed against,” he said. “Most people thought he \[Jeb Bush\] was going to win and he was quickly out.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/"},"headline":"President Trump Says Barbara Bush Was 'Nasty' to Him in New Biography and 'She Should Be'","datePublished":"2019-04-05T14:40:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:52:53.014Z","description":"President Donald Trump said criticism from the late First Lady Barbara Bush in her new biography did not surprise him.","url":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/","keywords":["Books","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32b401b8fa620327/698947d58fd2eeeeb035e0ea/donald-trump-barbara-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32b401b8fa620327/698947d58fd2eeeeb035e0ea/donald-trump-barbara-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Meets With Vice Premier Of China At The White House","caption":"President Trump Meets With Vice Premier Of China At The White House","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla— Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/","name":"President Trump Says Barbara Bush Was 'Nasty' to Him in New Biography and 'She Should Be'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dead At 92","description":"Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dead At 92","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oDYIf79a/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-04-17T23:43:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oDYIf79a.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/","duration":"PT1M18S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5564919/donald-trump-responds-barbara-bush/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```