A group of 18 GOP lawmakers led by Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana, have signed a letter formally nominating President Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The letter is addressed to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and states that President Trump has worked "tirelessly to apply maximum pressure to North Korea to end its illicit weapons programs and bring peace to the region."

“His Administration successfully united the international community, including China, to impose one of the most successful international sanctions regimes in history,” the letter says. “The sanctions have decimated the North Korean economy and have been largely credited for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table.”

Other signatories include Reps Mark Meadows, R-N.C., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Diane Black, R-Tenn., and Steve King, R-Iowa.

“Although North Korea has evaded demands from the international community to cease its aggression for decades, President Trump’s peace through strength policies are working and bringing peace to the Korean peninsula,” the letter reads. “We can think of no one more deserving of the Committee’s recognition in 2019 than President Trump for his tireless work to bring peace to our world.”

“The only reason the North Korean dictator is coming to the table is because President Trump has stared him down and shown him that we have a leader in America who means business and who has changed the dynamic in major ways,” Rep. Messer told Fox News. “That’s why I think he has to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

The letter follows a Monday proclamation by South Korean leader, Moon Jae-in, who said that Trump deserves the prize just a few short hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un crossed south of the border and pledged to end hostilities between the two countries - including a "complete denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula.

“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize. What we need is only peace.”

Moon’s Nobel Prize comment came in response to a congratulatory message from Lee Hee-ho, the widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, in which she said Moon deserved to win the prize in recognition of his efforts, the Blue House official said.

Moon responded by saying Trump should get it.

Moon's made similar comments in January, saying that Trump "deserves big credit for bringing about the inter-Korean talks. It could be a resulting work of the U.S.-led sanctions and pressure."

As a reminder, in December of 2009 - less than one year after taking office, President Obama - to many people's surprise - won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

In 2015, Geir Lundestad - ex-secretary of the Nobel committee from 1990 to 2015, told the AP news agency that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama in 2009 failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would, its ex-secretary has said.

Mr Lundestad, writing in his memoir, Secretary of Peace, said even Mr Obama himself had been surprised. "No Nobel Peace Prize ever elicited more attention than the 2009 prize to Barack Obama," Mr Lundestad writes. "Even many of Obama's supporters believed that the prize was a mistake," he says. "In that sense the committee didn't achieve what it had hoped for".

Awarding Trump the Nobel Peace Price would likely be controversial to peace activists, whose firely language sent shockwaves throughout the international community in 2017. That said, Rep. Messer says Trump's approach has been solid.

"The peace through strength approach to national security is delivering results, not just in North Korea,” Messer said. “ISIS is on the run and I think the world is waking up to the fact that there's a new sheriff in town and the world’s most important leader today is Donald Trump.”