In keeping with tradition at the annual White House press corps dinner, the president struck an informal tone and joked about everything from international relations to his frequent verbal gaffes as a speechmaker and his unpopularity among certain sections of the press.
His double, Steve Bridges, did pretty much the same. The two men, wearing formal dinner suits and black bow ties, stood side-by-side behind identical presidential lecterns on a stage at the dinner as Mr Bridges - a well-known Mr Bush impersonator - mimicked him with the actual president playing along.
With Mr Bridges playing the president's alter ego, Mr Bush tried to dispel the impression that he is hostile to reporters and above self-humour.
Mr Bush began his speech to more than 2,000 journalists, politicians, cultural and sports celebrities with the requisite formalities, but his cheeky "sub-conscious" soon set the light-hearted tone for the night.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I feel chipper tonight. I survived the White House shake-up," the president said.
But impersonator Steve Bridges stole many of the best lines, including one involving Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Speaking of suspects, where is the great white hunter?" Mr Bridges said of Mr Cheney, later adding, "He shot the only trial lawyer in the country who supports me."
Mr Bush invited Mr Bridges to play his double on stage. The president talked to the press in polite, friendly terms while Mr Bridges told them what the commander-in-chief was really thinking.
The comedian opened with: "The media really ticks me off - the way they try to embarrass me by not editing what I say.
"Well let's things going, or I'll never get to bed.”
"I'm absolutely delighted to be here, as is (wife) Laura," Bush replied.
"She's hot," Bridges quipped.
The president has never missed a White House Correspondents' dinner, where self-deprecating jokes are a must for the cynical, hard-nosed audience of seasoned journalists.
Mr Bush, who is often parodied by US comedians for being inarticulate and mangling his words, himself joked about "continuing to spread our agenda around the world, and even internationally".
The dinner serves as an opportunity to break the serious exchanges which normally govern the White House's relations with the press.
Some media commentators in the US call the Bush administration one of the most secretive US governments to date, and Saturday's dinner offered one of the few opportunities for the president and reporters to forget their official roles for a few hours and have some fun.
The featured entertainer was Stephen Colbert, whose US cable TV show "The Colbert Report" often lampoons the Washington establishment.
"I believe that the government that governs best is a government that governs least, and by these standards we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq," Colbert said in a typical zinger.
He also paid mock tribute to Bush as a man who "believes Wednesday what he believed Monday, despite what happened Tuesday."