George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush both criticized Donald Trump at different points, but mostly in careful, measured ways rather than constant direct attacks.

Key things “George Bush” said

Because there are two former presidents named George Bush, it helps to separate them:

George H. W. Bush (Bush Sr.)

  • He reportedly called Donald Trump a “blowhard,” saying he didn’t like him and was “not too excited about him being a leader.”
  • He told author Mark Updegrove that Trump’s run for president was driven by “a certain ego,” and confirmed that he voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 instead of Trump.

George W. Bush (Bush Jr.)

  • In private remarks reported by journalists, he said of Trump, “This guy doesn’t know what it means to be president,” in the context of criticizing Trump’s lack of humility and his claim that he was his own adviser.
  • In an October 2017 speech, he warned that “we’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism” and that public life had been degraded by “bullying and prejudice,” which was widely read as a rebuke of Trump even though he did not use Trump’s name.

Broader tone of their comments

  • Both Bush presidents focused less on attacking Trump personally and more on criticizing his tone, his treatment of immigrants and minorities, and his effect on democratic norms and American leadership in the world.
  • Fact-check style overviews note that George W. Bush’s comments about Trump are occasional, measured, and often indirect; they are usually framed as defenses of civility and institutions rather than full-on anti-Trump campaigns.

TL;DR:

  • Bush Sr.: called Trump a “blowhard,” said he didn’t like him, and voted for Clinton.
  • Bush Jr.: said Trump “doesn’t know what it means to be president” and gave speeches criticizing “bullying,” “prejudice,” and distorted nationalism that were widely understood as aimed at Trump.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.