Donald Trump’s newly-appointed deputy national security adviser once recommended Vladimir Putin for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The President-elect hired national security analyst KT (Kathleen Troia) McFarland, who held national security posts in the Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan administrations, on Friday.

But amid mounting concern over many of the President-elect's cabinet selections, attention has turned to the series of controversial comments previously made by the 65-year-old.

KT McFarland's headline has been defended as 'tongue-in-cheek' Fox News

Her outspoken comments also include a suggestion that political correctness and a failure to discriminate against Muslims, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo and Brussels attacks, “is getting us killed”.

But in her September 2013 opinion piece, entitled “Putin is the one who really deserves that Novel Peace Prize”, she discussed how military intervention in Syria was being avoided.

Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly said off-hand, in a diplomacy meeting in London, that the American attack would be called off if the Syrians turned over chemical weapons to an international body.

The foreign ministers from Syria and Russia apparently leapt on this and Russian President Mr Putin subsequently took the lead on announcing the destruction of President Bashar al-Assad’s arsenal.

“Putin stepped in and threw Obama a lifeline,” she wrote.

“The Washington press corps will no doubt believe him [Obama], as usual, and lavish their usual praise.

“But the world knows that Vladimir Putin is the one who really deserves that Nobel Peace Prize.

“It turns out that leading from behind left a big opening up front. Putin stepped right in. And Obama still hasn’t figured it out.”

The apparent backing for Mr Putin has subsequently been defended as satirical and tongue-in-cheek.

Ms McFarland was often rolled out on Fox News in the aftermath of terrorist attacks, and following the Brussels catastrophe, she said: “They’re [Muslims] taking advantage of our reluctance to hurt their feelings and that’s why I think political correctness is getting people killed.”