FORMER US President George W. Bush has taken several veiled swipes at Donald Trump during a rare public interview.

Speaking to NBC’s Today show, Mr Bush expressed his support for the news media, took a thinly disguised shot at President Trump’s travel ban and, most significantly, said America “needs answers” on the Trump team’s alleged ties to Russia.

Mr Trump has called stories about those Russia ties “fake news”. Nevertheless, his critics are pushing for Congress to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate them.

“I think we all need answers,” Mr Bush told NBC anchor Matt Lauer.

“Whether or not a special prosecutor is the right way to go, you’re talking to the wrong guy. I have great faith in Richard Burr, for example, he’s the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Really good guy, an independent thinker, and if he were to recommend a special prosecutor, it would have a lot more credibility with me.

“I’ve never been a lawyer. I’m not sure of the right avenue to take. I am sure, though, that that question needs to be answered.”

Asked about Mr Trump’s executive order, currently suspended by the courts, which bans immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, Mr Bush made his views quite clear.

“I think it’s very important for all of us to recognise one of our great strengths, which is for people to be able to worship the way they want to or not worship at all. A bedrock of our freedom is the right to worship freely,” Mr Bush said.

“I understood right off the bat (after 9/11) that this was an ideological conflict, and that people who murder the innocent are not religious people. They want to advance an ideology. And we have faced those kinds of ideologues in the past.”

“I just want to make sure I understand, are you for or against the ban? You’re against the ban?” Mr Lauer asked.

“I am for an immigration policy that’s welcoming and that upholds the law,” Mr Bush responded.

The former president implied Mr Trump’s attitude towards Muslims could hurt America’s fight against Islamic State.

“I think it’s very hard to fight the war on terror if we’re in retreat,” he said. “The enemy is very good about exploiting weakness. It’s going to be very important — if that’s the goal, to defeat ISIS, which I think it should be — to project strength. Now, whether or not the domestic politics helps them or not? You know.”

Mr Bush also rebuked Mr Trump for his war on the media, chuckling at his characterisation of news outlets as the “enemies of the people”.

“I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. We need an independent media to hold people like me to account. I mean, power can be very addictive, and it can be corrosive, and it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.

“One of the things I spent a lot of time doing was trying to convince a person like Vladimir Putin, for example, to accept the notion of an independent press. And it’s kind of hard to tell others to have an independent, free press when we’re not willing to have one ourselves.”

In one more charitable moment, Mr Bush said the new President deserved time to try to unify Americans before being judged.

“First, there’s only been one month in office, and he’s got four years. Secondly, I think you have to take the man at his word that he wants to unify the country, and we’ll see whether he’s able to do so,” Mr Bush said.

“It’s hard to unify the country though with the news media being so split up. When I was president, you mattered a lot more, because there was like, three of you. And now there’s all kinds of information being bombarded out. People can say things anonymously. And it’s just a different world.”

It’s no surprise that Mr Bush has reservations about Mr Trump. His brother, Jeb, was repeatedly mocked by Mr Trump last year before dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Jeb, George and their father, former president George H.W. Bush, decided not to attend the Republican convention, where Mr Trump officially became the nominee.

Even so, it’s unusual for a former president to comment on a sitting president’s performance. Mr Bush made a point of giving Barack Obama clear air, remaining virtually silent after leaving office. And while Bill Clinton was active in both of his wife’s campaigns for the White House, he spent most of his immediate post-presidential years focusing on humanitarian issues.

By contrast, Mr Obama warned he was willing to be vocal in retirement, and he has already spoken out against Mr Trump. Last month he criticised the immigration ban and expressed his support for those protesting it.

“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country. Citizens exercising their Constitutional right to assemble, organise and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,” spokesman Kevin Lewis said on Mr Obama’s behalf.

“With regard to comparisons to President Obama’s foreign policy decisions, as we’ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith and religion.”

So far, Mr Trump has refrained from hitting back at either of his predecessors.