Charlie Kirk Shooting Person of Interest in Custody, Donald Trump Says

President Trump just dropped a bombshell ... the person of interest in the Charlie Kirk assassination is now in custody!

Trump made the stunning revelation on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning ... saying he believes "with a high degree of certainty" that the possible shooter has been apprehended. And get this ... Trump says he only learned the news about 5 minutes before making his TV appearance.

47 went on to say the man was turned in with the help of a minister and a member of the U.S. Marshals.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the man's father recognized his son from the person of interest photos released by the FBI, thinking that the person "looks a lot like my kid." Sources say the dad then asked his son to turn himself in -- and his son initially said no, but then changed his mind.

Our sources say the dad called a youth pastor to assist and the pastor contacted the Marshals Service, which took him into custody. The Marshals then contacted the FBI.

The FBI and the Marshals Service investigated ... and eventually brought the man into custody. CNN, citing 2 sources, reports the man confessed to his father that he committed the murder.

Trump praised everyone involved in the manhunt ... saying they did a great job while underscoring how difficult it was to track the man down, starting the hunt with "absolutely nothing."

Trump says he first got word about the Charlie Kirk shooting in the middle of a meeting with architects for the new White House ballroom … when someone came in and told him, “Charlie Kirk is dead." Trump says he was stunned, recalling … “I didn’t know what they meant ... what do you mean, dead?”

As we reported, TMZ obtained video of the person of interest walking down a residential street Wednesday in Orem, Utah Wednesday -- not long before Charlie was shot while holding an event at UVU.

About 6 minutes after the shooting, someone dressed in black can be seen running the opposite direction through a backyard.