FBI Backtracks, Now Says Trump Was Hit By Bullet

Donald Trump has been railing on the FBI's director for suggesting he might not have been hit by a bullet when he was shot at -- and now ... the agency's completely backpedaling.

The FBI just put out a statement that unequivocally stands firm on the notion Trump was, in fact, struck by one of Thomas Matthew Crooks' AR-15 rounds a couple weeks ago at his rally in Butler, PA ... where one person was killed, and two others were injured.

The statement reads, "What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle."

Of course, this about-face comes after Trump and his allies have cried foul at Christopher Wray's waffling on this issue during his congressional testimony this week ... casting a bit of doubt by saying it might've been shrapnel that peppered his ear as opposed to a full bullet.

That kicked up a frenzy of speculation ... with some saying Trump may have stretched the truth on his injury and hammed it up for the media. DT, however, always stuck to his story.

In fact, he doubled down yet again on Friday -- posting a now-viral image of the bullet whizzing past his ear and adding, "Perhaps FBI Director Christopher Wray will notice there is no shrapnel or glass flying through the ear, only a bloodstained bullet."

It seems all the handwringing has forced the FBI to come out and say it very clearly ... he got nicked that day, and the ordeal was just as dangerous as everyone's been saying.

Time will tell if this appeases Trump -- who, BTW, has lost his bandage and seems to have healed up quite nicely.