Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told the story of his father giving him a "small loan of $1 million" and having to pay it back with interest as one of his struggles in his early life during a town hall in New Hampshire Monday.
A registered Republican voter, Jill Casey, asked Trump if he'd ever been "told no" by anyone outside of his own family.
"My whole life really has been a no, and I fought through it," Trump said. "I talk about it. It's not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of $1 million. I came into Manhattan, and I had to pay him back. I had to pay him back with interest, but I came into Manhattan. I started buying up properties, and I did great, and then I built the Grand Hyatt ... I was always told that would never work."
Trump said his father Fred, who owned a real estate company focusing on middle-class housing in Queens and Brooklyn, told him not to go to Manhattan for real estate opportunities because that wasn't their "territory." Trump also said he'd been told that it was a lost cause to go up against "professional politicians" in his bid for the presidency but declared himself "not impressed" with the slate he's up against. Trump has led Republican polls since he launched his bid in June.
"Let's just put this in perspective," host Matt Lauer said. "You said it hasn't been easy for you but my dad gave me a million-dollar loan. That probably is going to seem pretty easy to a lot of people."
"No, he did. You're right, but a million dollars isn't very much compared to what I built," Trump said. "I built one of the great companies ... That's what I want to do for the country. I want to make America great again. That's why I'm doing this."