President Trump on Wednesday called Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush “the only Bush that likes me.”
Speaking at an executive order signing in Crosby, Texas, the president reacted enthusiastically when he saw the eldest son of his 2016 Republican primary opponent Jeb Bush on stage.
“This is the only Bush that likes me,” Trump said. “This is the only one. Come here. I want to meet you.”{mosads}
The president added that the land commissioner is a “great guy” who is friends with his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
“Truly, this is the Bush that got it right,” Trump said.
The two men then shook hands and spoke briefly before Bush, unsmiling, walked away from center stage and Trump continued with his remarks.
“Good guy. I like him. He’s going far. He’s going places,” the president added afterward.
George P. Bush voiced his support for Trump during his reelection bid last year, even though the rest of his family has openly expressed their distaste for the president.
Tensions between the two families have shadowed George P. Bush’s relationship with the Trumps. Last year, Donald Trump Jr. scrapped a fundraiser for him after members of the Bush family criticized the Trump administration’s child separation policy at the southern border.
Former first lady Barbara Bush, the grandmother of George P. Bush, told USA Today’s Susan Page last year that she no longer considered herself a Republican because of Trump’s rise.
“I have heard that she was nasty to me, but she should be. Look what I did to her sons,” Trump responded in an interview with The Washington Times.