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Former President George W. Bush gives former first lady Michelle Obama mints ahead of the dedication ceremony at the Obama Presidential Center on June 17 in Chicago.Credit :
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, Pool
Former President George W. Bush gifted his pal Michelle Obama a tin of Altoid mints as they reunited at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday, June 18.
The lighthearted moment between the unlikely friends — captured behind the scenes before the Obamas were set to take the stage at the star-studded event on Thursday — was a throwback to the pair’s iconic moment at longtime Sen. John McCain’s funeral in 2018.
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“I get a little antsy, as I’m sure you know, and I was sitting next to Michelle. That’s who I sit next to at funerals,” Bush, 79, told his daughter, Today show host Jenna Bush Hager, earlier this year. “And I was kind of teasing her and stuff, and I slipped her an Altoid. Not as a joke, but I thought she might want one.”
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“And I got in the car afterwards, and you said, ‘You’re trending,’” he recalled to his daughter. “I didn’t know what trending meant.”
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Bush Hager recently previewed her father’s gift on a May episode of the Today show, telling co-host Savannah Guthrie that “he’s ordered a case of Altoids, and he’ll be bringing that to Mrs. Obama.”
An Associated Press photographer captured their reunion on Thursday as all living presidents and first ladies, except for President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, were in attendance.
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Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton could be seen laughing in the background as Bush handed off the mints to Michelle and the pair embraced.
Former President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former first lady Laura Bush were also backstage as the celebration kicked off on Thursday.
PEOPLE confirmed in March that the Trumps were not invited to the grand opening.
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