A far-right Norwegian politician says he has nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize for his efforts in the Middle East.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian Parliament for the far-right Progress Party, said Mr Trump should be considered because of his work “for a peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which opens up for possible peace in the Middle East”.

“No matter how Trump acts at home and what he says at press conferences, he has absolutely a chance at getting the Nobel peace prize,” Mr Tybring-Gjedde, said.

He said he nominated Mr Trump on Wednesday, adding that “Donald Trump meets the criteria” for the prestigious prize.

Any national politician can nominate someone for the prize.

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According to the official website, there are 318 candidates for 2020, of which 211 are individuals and 107 are organisations.  

The process of considering candidates and awarding the prize is done in Norway, in contrast to the other Nobel prizes, which are awarded in neighbouring Sweden.

Nominations must be sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee by February 1.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee doesn’t publicly comment on nominees. Under its rules, the information is required to be kept secret for 50 years.

So how did the White House find out about this nomination? 

Mr Tybring-Gjedde did not attempt to keep it under wraps. 

“It is now to hope that the Nobel Committee is able to consider what Trump has achieved internationally and that it does not stumble in established prejudice against the US President,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Mr Tybring-Gjedde was also one of two Norwegian politicians who nominated Mr Trump for the peace prize in 2018 for his efforts to bring reconciliation between North and South Korea.

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The news of Mr Trump’s apparent nomination came amid the release of an audio excerpt on Thursday in which the President can be heard telling journalist Bob Woodward that he deliberately ‘downplayed’ the coronavirus

-with AAP