Donald Trump’s lawyer has said it would be “very inappropriate” for the president’s written answers to Robert Mueller to be made public.

Jay Sekulow, a member of Mr Trump’s legal team, told CNN on Monday his client’s communications with the special counsel are confidential, and that they should continue to remain so, despite the president being cleared of conspiring with Russia.

“It’s not as simple as just wave your hand and we release the document. I think that would be very inappropriate,” he told host Alisyn Camerota, who asked if Mr Trump would be willing to make public the written answers.

“If I was representing you in a case and we came to a voluntary determination to submit answers in writing, and then you were exonerated, I don’t think that would be material that would be relevant to the general public.”

However, Mr Trump was explicitly not exonerated by the as-yet-unreleased report. Though Mr Trump was cleared of colluding with Moscow, Mr Mueller failed to rule on whether the president obstructed justice, according to the president’s newly installed attorney general William Barr.

Criminals who worked for Trump Show all 5 1 /5 Criminals who worked for Trump Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Cohen Former lawyer for Donald Trump was sentenced to three years in prison on counts involving evading income tax, false disclosure of the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and another hush money charge Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Paul Manafort Former campaign manager for Trump Manafort was found guilty in February 2018 of five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of failure to disclose a foreign bank account. The crimes occurred prior to his appointment in Trump's campaign Getty Criminals who worked for Trump George Papadopoulos Former Trump campaign adviser Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017. He had lied about making contact with a professor who claimed that the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton. He was sentenced to 14 days in jail Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Michael Flynn Former White House National Security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in December 2017. He had lied about conversations that he had with the Russian ambassador to the US during Trump's Presidential campaign. He was not given prison time due to his "significant assistance" to the Mueller investigation Getty Criminals who worked for Trump Rick Gates Deputy chairman of Trump's presidential campaign Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in February 2018 AFP/Getty

In a letter sent to Congress, Mr Barr said that while Mr Mueller’s report “does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it does not exonerate him”.

Mr Sekulow said whether Mr Trump’s answers would be released is a question for the attorney general, but that he “has some strong opinions” about whether he should do.

Susan Hennessey, a national security expert at the Brookings Institution, said the comment was a "big tell" about "how afraid" the White House is of the contents of Mr Mueller's report.

Mr Trump gloated on Monday morning over the findings, quoting from Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who said Mr Mueller’s conclusions represented a “good day” for America.

President Trump claims 'total exoneration' in Mueller report

The president also quoted a passage from Mr Barr’s letter clearing him of collusion, before tweeting an apparent headline by MSNBC, a television network Mr Trump perceives to be an enemy.

“Breaking News: Mueller Report Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy,” he wrote.