He did not attend the funeral.

Bush had expressed disdain for Trump more than 20 years ago, writing in her journals in the 1990s that he was "greedy, selfish and ugly," according to a news release about the book. Page wrote that more recently, Bush had suggested Trump's recent rise to power had turned the Republican party into one she could no longer relate to and she did not understand how others could support him.

Page wrote on Wednesday in USA Today:

"How did she think things were going in the USA in the Age of Trump?

"'I'm trying not to think about it,' she said in an interview as the first anniversary of Trump's election approached. "We're a strong country, and I think it will all work out." Even so, she was dismayed by the nation's divisions and by the direction of the party she had worked for, and for so long.

"Did she still consider herself a Republican?

"In an interview with me in October 2017, she answered that question yes. When I asked her again four months later, in February 2018, she said, 'I'd probably say no today.'"