Jenna Bush Hager Recalls ‘Rage’ She Had Over Mother-in-Law’s Insistence She Hang Husband’s Favorite Poster

Jenna Bush Hager recalls her first fight with her mother-in-law.

In Wednesday’s episode TODAY with Hoda and Jenna, the women discussed compromises in relationships. Bush Hager (42) recalled the time at the beginning of her marriage to Henry Hager when she refused to settle – over a poster.

“I just have to say, when Henry and I got married — and I love my mother-in-law so much, she’s the best, she watches our show, I love her. But she gave me a poster of a baseball player that Henry loved from Wake Forest and said, ‘Now you have to put this on the wall. Your husband loves this player,’ Hager said.

She went on to admit, “There was a kind of rage.”

What you need to know about Jenna Bush Hager’s journey from first daughter to ‘Today’ host

Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty

The former first daughter explained to co-host Hoda Kotb that she told her mother-in-law, Margaret Hager, “I don’t like that poster,” and refused to hang it in her home. Margaret remained adamant that Bush Hager needed a “compromise” for the benefit of Hager’s interests.

“I said, ‘No, I won’t! This should stay in your home in his childhood bedroom where basketball posters go to die,’ Bush Hager said.

When Kotb, 59, asked if Bush Hager’s mother-in-law was mad at her, she said she understood Hager was just trying to teach her “the ways of marriage.” However, she can happily say that she hasn’t seen the poster since.

“I probably should have just politely said, ‘Thank you very much for this poster,’ and then thrown it in the trash later — which I may have done, I don’t remember, it was almost 20 years ago,” Bush Hager added.

Hoda Kotb Praises How ‘Shameless’ Jenna Bush Hager Is: ‘People Spend Their Lives Trying’ (Exclusive)

“By the way, you were a different person then,” Kotb interjected.

Bush Hager joked, “I just got married and I was wearing Barbie heels so I said, ‘Let’s stand tall.'”

Instagram Jenna Bush Hager

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Bush Hager — whose father is former President George W. Bush — and husband Henry met in 2004 and married in 2008. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Mila, in 2013 and daughter Poppy in 2015. Their son Hal was born in 2019.

Over the years, Bush Hager has spoken candidly about her journey to motherhood, admitting that having three young children makes the “logistics” difficult. She devotes time to “making sure that every child has the love that I know I feel for them.”

Still, she said expanding her family has brought her more joy than ever. “It’s fun,” she told PEOPLE after Hal was born. “I’m really happy.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education