Trump made the claim to his former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, during a phone conversation ... hours after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot him in the ear at a Pennsylvania campaign rally Saturday, according to the New York Times.

Jackson, now a Texas congressman, told the NYT Trump believes his life was spared after he turned sideways to refer to immigration statistics from the chart displayed on a screen while onstage in a field in Butler, PA.

As Trump turned his head toward the chart, Crooks opened fire from the rooftop of a building nearby with an AR-15 style rifle, hitting him in the right ear instead of the head, recalled Jackson, quoting the former prez. Trump, Jackson said, specifically credited the "border patrol" and the "border patrol chart" for saving his life.

Jackson, whose nephew was injured in the assassination attempt, flew Sunday to New Jersey to visit Trump at his private club in Bedminster. The Congressman described Trump as determined to win the 2024 presidential election and not one bit flustered by his brush with death.

At the rally, three spectators were also shot, and one was killed while the two others were still recovering from their injuries.

Secret Service agents put an end to the violence by fatally shooting Crooks on the roof.  The FBI is trying to determine his motive.