Apparently, the Bush political dynasty isn’t quite ready to ride off into the Texas sunset. According to a new report, former President George W. Bush and his family are quietly eyeing a comeback — one designed to reclaim the Republican Party from President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement that reshaped it.
The Daily Mail reports that “rumors are stirring” about a coordinated effort to end the so-called “Bush Exile” and retake control of the GOP once Trump leaves office. According to the outlet, a “shadow Republican Party” with old-guard Bushworld connections is supposedly lying in wait, ready to move the second Trump is gone.
The report notes that while Bush avoids publicly criticizing Trump — to the disappointment of some of his former aides — he may be willing to “quietly” influence the party’s long-term direction behind the scenes. In other words, the same style of leadership that defined the pre-Trump GOP: lots of whispers, very little backbone.
A former Bush official told the outlet that Trump “knows that there’s no third term option,” but admitted that Vice President JD Vance “has a head start” over other 2028 hopefuls. The same official predicted a “big open field” in the 2028 GOP primary, which is code for: they’re hoping the pre-Trump establishment can make a comeback. Good luck.
Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele was also reported as begging Bush to get involved again, saying Bush has “a voice that would resonate with a lot more Americans.” Sure — because nothing says “fresh vision” like reviving the architects of the Iraq War and endless foreign entanglements.
It’s worth remembering that Bush hasn’t exactly been subtle over the years. In 2021, he told CBS’s Norah O’Donnell that Trump supposedly lacked the “humility” needed for leadership. And back in 2019, during Trump’s first term, Bush claimed Trump’s “isolationist United States” was “destabilizing around the world,” warning that stepping back from foreign conflicts was “dangerous for the sake of peace.” This, from the man who sent American troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, with more than 4,500 Americans killed — including over 3,500 in combat.
So yes, the old guard seems restless. They see the Republican Party transformed by Trump’s America-First agenda, and they’re hoping that once he leaves office, they can swoop in and restore the party to its pre-Trump days — the days of polite press conferences, endless wars, and zero grassroots energy.
But here’s the thing: the Republican base isn’t going backward. The movement Trump built has reshaped the party permanently, energizing millions of Americans who were ignored for decades. And no amount of behind-the-scenes whispering from Bushworld will change that.
The future of the GOP is America-First — and that’s something to celebrate.
