PoliticsGeorge W. Bush 'Already Ordered' Cheeky Gift for Pal Michelle Obama Ahead of Presidential Center Opening

The former president and first lady are good friends.
May 6 2026, Updated 5:35 p.m. ET
George W. Bush knows what he'll be gifting his pal Michelle Obama at the upcoming launch of the Obama Presidential Center on June 18.
The former president's daughter Jenna Bush Hager revealed his plan while discussing the grand opening during the Wednesday, May 6, episode of Today.
When co-host Savannah Guthrie asked, "Is that the [event] where you dad's bringing a case of Altoids?" to which Bush Hager, 44, replied, "Yeah, he's already ordered a case."

The pair shared a viral moment in 2018 at John McCain's funeral.
"He'll be bringing that to Mrs. Obama," she said, before Guthrie, 54, clarified the gift was a reference to a viral moment between the pair, "not because she needs a case of Altoids."
Bush, 79, famously slipped Obama, 62, a breath mint at Sen. John McCain's funeral in 2018. In a recent interview with Bush Hager, the 43rd president revealed he was told, "'You're trending,'" shortly after.
"I didn’t know what 'trending' meant," he admitted, before declaring, "The country is starved to see a white center-right Republican and an African American center-left Democrat having fun and being able to converse, not as political figures, but as citizens."
Michelle Obama's Reaction to the Viral Funeral Moment

The 43rd POTUS slipped Michelle Obama a breath mint.
Barack Obama's wife responded to the moment during an appearance on Today after the senator's funeral.
"He's a wonderful man. He's a funny man. And it was a simple gesture," she told Savannah and Hoda Kotb at the time. "He was getting a cough drop from Laura Bush and I looked over and I said, 'Hand me a cough drop.'"
"I will add that they were old cough drops," she joked. "That's the funny thing, 'cause they were in the little White House box, the Altoids, and I was like, 'How long have you had these?"
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'Party Doesn't Separate Us'

Both said people are 'starved' to see members of opposing parties interacting in a positive way.
Savannah then remarked, "It one of those moments where people felt like, 'Oh, there's a bipartisan moment even with something as simple as a cough drop.'"
"That's why it matters so much," Michelle replied. "That's what people are hungry for. They're hungry for what we all know — party doesn't separate us. Color, gender...those kinds of things don't separate us."
She went on, "It's the messages that we send. If we're the adults and the leaders in the room and we're not showing that level of decency, we cannot expect our children to do the same."
'I Love Him to Death'

Michelle Obama called George W. Bush a 'wonderful man.'
Michelle also referred to George as her "partner in crime," explaining that they always sit together "at every major thing where all the formers gather" due to "protocol."
"So we're together all the time, and I love him to death," she said.

