Jenna Bush Hager cried with her father, George W. Bush, when she heard that Hoda Kotb is leaving “Today.”

During Thursday’s episode of “Today with Hoda and Jenna,” the couple tearfully discussed the former president’s reaction to the news that Kotb, 60, will be leaving the NBC show in early 2025.

“I don’t know if you’re embarrassed to say this or not, but I think you should be,” Kotb told Bush Hager, 42.

Kotb continued: “You called your father. And I remember when we first started working together, you were scared.”

Bush Hager, in tears, recalls talking to her 78-year-old father when she replaced Kathie Lee Gifford as Kotb’s co-host on the entertainment-focused 10 a.m. show on “Today” in 2019.

“I called my dad when I started. He said, ‘I’m so happy for you — and Hoda is the star. You’re okay with that, right? You’re okay with sharing the spotlight with the star, right?'” Bush Hager said.

“I said, ‘Yes. Of course.'”

Bush Hager subsequently revealed that she had reached out to the former president to discuss Kotb’s departure from the show.

“I called him last night. At first he thought something really bad had happened, like a lost love, because I was so emotional,” she said.

“And he said, ‘Oh, she’s leaving because it’s time and you’re going to be okay. It’s your turn. It’s okay,'” Bush Hager said.

Kotb stood and clapped his hands when he heard Bush’s remarks.

“It’s your turn. It’s your turn,” she said, echoing the ex-Commander in Chief.

“And whoever’s in this seat is going to have the easiest job in the world, because they’re sitting right next to you,” Kotb told Bush Hager, tearfully. “All they have to do is not laugh so hard they pee their pants. That’s it. They just have to hang in there.”

Kotb told the former first daughter that she is “a bright light” and that it is her “turn.”

Bush Hager responded, “If I’m bright, it’s because I’m in your glow. We all are. We’ve all had five incredible years together.”

Kotb then directed the cameras to look at the entire staff of their show and gave them a round of applause.

“You are so loved and you have made us all feel so much loved,” Bush Hager told her co-host. “We just can’t imagine life without you — but the good news is we don’t have to because you’re staying with us for another three months!”

“I promise you,” Bush Hager continued, “the next three months are not going to be a cry fest. We’re going to have fun. We’re going to celebrate you.”

Bush Hager joined “Today” as a contributor and host in 2009. In 2019, she began co-hosting the fourth hour of “Today” with Kotb following Gifford’s departure.

Kotb has been with NBC since 1998. She was a correspondent for “Dateline” before joining the “Today” team 10 years later. In 2008, she began co-hosting the show’s fourth hour.

The beloved journalist announced her departure from “Today” on Thursday morning.

In a letter to the “Today” staff, Kotb wrote: “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you’re all the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I feel that deeply right now. I love you all and it’s time for me to leave the show.”

“My time at NBC was the longest professional love affair of my life,” Kotb said, adding that she has chosen to step back from the show to spend more time with her daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

When Kotb announced her departure, she was joined by her co-hosts, including Bush Hager, Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Sheinelle Jones.

While she is leaving “Today,” Kotb will continue to work for NBC in an unknown capacity.