The winner will be announced in October — just one month before the U.S. presidential election. | Getty Trump nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Donald Trump has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The billionaire presidential candidate, whose controversial comments and hard-edged policy proposals have upset many, was nominated for: "his vigorous peace through strength ideology, used as a threat weapon of deterrence against radical Islam, ISIS, nuclear Iran and Communist China,” according to a copy of the nomination letter obtained by the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway. According to PRIO, Trump was nominated by an American.


Being nominated for the prize doesn’t mean the Nobel Institute has approved anything — thousands of people around the world are allowed to nominate, including: members of national legislatures and top government officials, current and former Nobel Committee members, previous Peace Prize laureates, certain types of professors, members of international courts, and the heads of some think tanks.

Others who have been nominated for the 2016 prize include Pope Francis, Edward Snowden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

PRIO's director, Kristian Berg Harpviken speculated that Snowden would get the prize this year. "Others, including Julian Assange and Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning, have reportedly been nominated earlier, but Snowden’s candidacy is stronger, given both his recognition that leaking needs to be balanced with a concern for the security of individuals, and his principled reflections on the debate on surveillance and security," Harpviken wrote.

The winner will be announced in October — just one month before the U.S. presidential election.