Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during a live TV press conference asked a female reporter to "be quiet" following a heated discussion.

The incident occurred at the press conference in Florida on Wednesday, during which NBC News' correspondent Katy Tur asked the real estate mogul whether he had "any qualms about asking a foreign government, Russia, China, anybody, to interfere, to hack into a system of anybody in this country," the New York Magazine reported.

She pressed him, reading back one of his own quotes, to which he replied, "Well, they probably have (the emails). I'd like to have them released."

As Tur continued talking, Trump said, "You know what gives me more pause? That a person in our government - crooked Hillary Clinton - be quiet," the New York Magazine added.

The NBC News correspondent asked no further questions.

On Wednesday, Trump was at the centre of an uproar after he said that Russia should help find Clinton's missing emails on the personal server that she used to conduct official business as secretary of state but deemed private and did not hand over to the State Department.