No leader has been exempt from critique, but most would agree that the current administration is far worse than it's been in the past, so much so that former President George W. Bush, once himself the target of harsh criticisms, feels like he doesn't seem so bad in retrospect.
National Journal reports that Bush was heard talking about all of President Trump's recent scandals, saying they make W. look "pretty good." An official close to the White House also told the National Journal Bush was “shaking his head like everyone else wondering why they can’t get their act together,” also adding he "wants [Trump] to succeed but thinks a lot of his problems are self-inflicted.”
Most recently, Trump's administration has been caught in several lies about meeting with video game companies to discuss school shootings and even about freeing LiAngelo Ball. All of this of course on top of things like racist and sexist comments, xenophobic policy changes, and a lack of accountability in terms of discussions about gun control.
It's not surprising Bush would rally behind Trump's success, being representatives of the same party, but the former President also reportedly knocks the current administration on a regular basis privately and doesn't understand why there's always so much controversy surrounding the White House. Publicly, Bush has largely shied away from commenting on the administration or the President himself, but according to this source, he makes plenty of candid comments while flashing his trademark smirk.
It has also been reported that during President Trump's inauguration in 2017, Bush referred to the whole thing as "some weird shit." Considering he and his wife Laura Bush let it slip it slip that they actually didn't vote for Trump in 2016's election, the disconnect shouldn't really come as a surprise.
Another former President, George H.W. Bush, has been much less inclined to mince words, saying he flatly doesn't like Trump and is "not too excited about him being a leader,” in a book about him and his son George W., The Last Republicans.
