Jenna Bush Hageris standing her (possibly haunted) ground. The former first daughter turnedTODAYco-host isn't backing off her longstanding belief that the White House is haunted. Hager's admission that she believes ghosts roam the White House halls has captured curiosity ever since she shared a chilling yet charming anecdote about a musical spirit haunting 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue during an October 2020 virtualappearanceonThe Kelly Clarkson Show. AfterKelly Clarksonasked Hager a series of true or false questions, the host was taken aback after Hager confirmed that she believes rumors of the White House being haunted are true. And hertwin sister Barbara Pierce Bushwas happy to verify the story. RELATED:Jenna Bush Hager's Husband Had a Spicy Reaction to Her New Bob: "Damn, That's..." "Barbara and I were going to sleep — our rooms were right next to each other, and it was in college when people would call late," Hager shared. "So the phone rang and I woke up and all of a sudden we heard like, 1920s piano music coming out of our fireplace." While Hager was happy to dish some of the details of her paranormal experience with Clarkson, she and her sister Barbara provided a more detailed timeline of spooky events during a joint March 2025 interview withPeople. "Barbara didn't believe me the first time. I was sleeping in my room — this was in college — and I woke up and heard opera coming out of the fireplace. And I could feel it! I honestly had chills," Hager said, recalling that she flocked to Barbara's adjacent bedroom in fear. "I'm like 'Barbara, Barbara!' I woke her up. 'I heard something. I think there's a ghost.' I got in bed with her, and we went back to sleep. Two days later she came to sleep in [my bedroom] and she was like, 'There's no ghost.'" While Barbara had been initially hesitant to think her sister experienced something paranormal, one night changed those beliefs. "Two days later, I was sleeping in her room. We were dozing off, and then we heard olden-times jazz music coming out of the fireplace again," Barbara recalled. "We were so scared. We wanted to get in bed with our parents, but we were 22 and it felt inappropriate. And so then we calmed ourselves down and we thought, 'Well, surely that was the cat. [The cat] Willard was playing the olden jazz music on the piano.'" Whatever it takes to sleep at night, right? However, once Hager woke up early the next morning to head to her internship, she discovered the top of the piano was on, covering the keys and obliterating the sisters' theory that the cat was the piano-playing culprit. So, who was playing music? "There [are] ghosts," Barbara concluded. "There's a lot of people that have lived in the White House, and I think there's some unfinished business with someone that likes music." Hager isn't the only one catching otherworldly energies at the White House. During a May 2021episodeofTODAY with Hoda & Jenna, Hager revealed that the twins' sleepless night inspired her to bring up the incident to a White House employee, who echoed their suspicions. "There's an incredible man — Buddy — who still works at the White House, we adored him. And [that morning] I said, 'Buddy, you wouldn't believe what Barbara and I heard last night,'" Hager recalled. "And he goes, "Oh Jenna, you wouldn't believe what I've seen in these walls." But noteveryone in the Bush familyis convinced. Former First Lady Laura Bush, whoappearedonThe Kelly Clarkson Showin May 2021, was keen to brush off her daughter's ghost story, assuring Clarkson it was "probably just the Secret Service talking down the hall in another room that they heard." AfterHoda Kotbpresented Laura's stance, Hager seemed humorously miffed at her mom. Despite Laura's refusal to think the White House is haunted, Hager cited Buddy and Barbara as being firmly Team Jenna on the matter, offering to call up her sister and put her on speakerphone if anyone doubted her. "Shall we do some research?" Hager teased. "Can the Secret Service play 1920s piano music?" It wouldn't be the first horror film to feature a skeptical parent raising their eyebrows, but it might be the first to take place inside the White House. WatchTODAYweekdays at 7 a.m. ET onNBC.
