Former President George W. Bush threw some subtle shade at President Donald Trump, despite reminding Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo in an interview Wednesday morning that he doesn’t ‘second guess’ his successors.
‘You know, they often ask, how come I’m not writing editorials and all that kind of stuff. I don’t want to,’ Bush said. ‘But through our actions it should send a message about the values of the Bush Center.’
From there, the first thing the ex-president brought up was ‘working in collaboration with Mexico and Canada,’ as he answered in the affirmative that he was worried about the climate of the current trade talks under Trump.
Former President George W. Bush noted in an interview Wednesday on Fox Business Network that he doesn’t like to ‘second guess’ his successors, but did express concerns about fighting with Canada and Mexico over trade
Former President George W. Bush (right) and first lady Laura Bush (left) sat down with Maria Bartiromo one day after the death of the ex-president’s mother, Barbara Bush, as he explained how she had wanted them to still hold their leadership forum in Dallas this week
‘Well, I hope that people, as they debate whether or not the trading regime has worked with Canada and Mexico look at the facts,’ Bush cautioned. ‘And we want our neighbors to be healthy and strong. And so our view is, how can we best expedite positive trade, which benefits everybody.’
‘But also to make the point that the three of us countries are going to need to work together to be able to compete with China in the long term,’ the ex-president pointed out.
Bush, who lost his mother, the 92-year-old former first lady Barbara Bush, on Tuesday, added that he’s ‘too old to worry about much.’
‘My only point is, is that we promote a positive agenda here and make the case why – in this case trade with Canada and Mexico, collaboration with Canada and Mexico, working closely with Canada and Mexico, not only benefits U.S. citizens, but benefits the citizens of all three countries,’ Bush said.
Since day No. 1 of President Trump’s campaign he’s held a hostile view of illegal Mexican immigrants and tried to get the country to finance his proposed border wall between the neighbors.
Trump has also sporadically threatened to pull out of NAFTA, as the Clinton-era trade deal is being renegotiated between the three countries.
Despite the death of his mother, Bush 43 decided to continue to host the Bush Center’s scheduled leadership forum in Dallas over the next few days, which is why he was sitting down for an interview – alongside former first lady Laura Bush – with Bartiromo.
‘And my mother would say, make darn sure that you participate fully in the leadership forum,’ Bush explained. ‘And, you know, in other words, don’t sit around and feel sorry for me.’
There will be a public viewing for her on Friday and then a private ceremony held for the late first lady on Saturday. First lady Melania Trump is slated to attend Saturday’s service.
Coming to the forum, however, were two Trump-unfriendly guests.
‘Yes, we’ve got Jeff Bezos, is the keynote speaker,’ Bush first said.
Trump has often focused his ire on Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, who also owns the Washington Post, which the president credits for some of most ‘fake’ coverage.
Among many other things, the Post was the first media outlet to release the ‘grab ’em by the p****’ Access Hollywood tape in October 2016, which almost cost Trump the presidential race.
Bono, the lead singer of U2, would also be a guest at the Bush event.
‘Bono and I became fast friends much to the amazement of a lot of people,’ the ex-president said.
The two bonded over the Republican president’s AIDS work in Africa, PEPFAR, among other things.
‘He had an ally in dealing with disease and deprivation, particularly on the continent of Africa,’ Bush explained. ‘And then we kind of meshed, our personalities meshed, you know, I needled him, and he needled me and we got along great.’
Less than two months before the 2016 election, Bono aired out some of his concerns about a Trump presidency.
‘Look, America is like the best idea the world ever came up with,’ Bono said on CBS This Morning. ‘But Donald Trump is potentially the worst idea that ever happened to America. Potentially.’