Controversial Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has been “nominated” for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, according to reports.

Mr Trump made a list alongside well-known figures including Pope Francis and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The Independent reported that a Nobel watcher and head of the Peace Institute in Oslo claimed to have seen a letter from an unidentified US nominator who proposed Mr Trump for: “His vigorous peace through strength ideology, used as a threat weapon of deterrence against radical Islam, Isis, nuclear Iran and Communist China”.

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The Nobel watcher – Kristian Berg Harpviken – told Reuters that Trump was not a candidate he thought could win the award.

There are thousands of people eligible to give nominations for the award and usually about 200 were made per year.

Mr Trump has courted worldwide controversy during his campaign for the Republican Presidential candidacy in recent months.

He has made numerous comments deemed controversial and offensive, including a pledge to build a wall along the United States’ border with Mexico and proposing to ban Muslims from entering the US.

On Tuesday, Mr Trump lost the crucial Iowa caucus vote to Republican nominee rival Ted Cruz.

The next state vote is set to take place in New Hampshire on February 9.