Jenna Bush Hager had an extra-special guest on Today.
During the Thursday, June 25, episode of Today with Jenna and Sheinelle, the cameras cut to Bush Hager, 44, with her arm around 10-year-old daughter Poppy as they stood beside cohost Sheinelle Jones.
“Well, look who we have here visiting,” Jones, 48, said, as Poppy waved for the camera.
“Yeah, Poppy Louise Hager stopped in,” Bush Hager added, while Jones replied, “Hi Poppy Louise Hager.”
Bush Hager welcomed her daughter Poppy in 2015 with husband Henry Hager. The pair, who wed in 2008, are also parents to daughter Mila, 13, and son Hal, 6.
In 2025, Bush Hager shared the heartfelt story behind Poppy’s name — which is connected to her grandfather, George H. W. Bush.
“When I was pregnant with Poppy, we had gone to see this documentary about my grandfather. … While we were watching it this man — who now, when this was filmed, was in his 80s, toward the end of his life — he’s Jewish and he said that when he was at school, he went to this boarding school, and everybody was antisemetic. There was a whole crowd of people being terrible to him,” she said during an episode of Today, where Hoda Kotb served as her cohost at the time.
“He said — he had tears in his eyes, this old man — ‘And then Poppy Bush — which was my grandpa’s nickname — said stop,’” she continued. “I looked at Henry and I said, ‘That’s her name. That’s her name.’ We want the type of kid who stands up for others, who makes sure people feel included and loved. We want the kid that is going to say, ‘Stop.’”
That same year, Bush Hager opened up about parenting in a “pretty similar” way to parents George W. Bush and Laura Bush. The Today host explained that her parents’ influence of living in the moment inspired her decision to hold off on giving Mila a cellphone.
“She’s in sixth grade. A lot of kids in her grade do, but we are waiting on that,” Bush Hager exclusively told Us Weekly at the time. “But therefore, she knows how to go up to people and say — I’m like, ‘If you need me, go into a store and you have my number.’”
Bush Hager explained that her parents were “creating joy” throughout her childhood with twin sister Barbara.
“They tried to make the world creative and magical for us. And when you’re really little, the world is magical,” she stated. “So, it’s both parents being part of their kids’ lives, but it’s also parents getting kid energy, putting down their phones and seeing what they see because it’s hilarious and it’s fun.”
She continued, “Yes, parents can show the kids the magic of the world, but also, and probably more importantly, parents can see through their kids’ eyes some of the magic. And that’s in a world that feels like it can be sometimes dark and difficult and hard, it’s so much fun just to choose that type of fun that comes through seeing the world through your kids’ eyes.”
