How did Donald Trump get his start? He did it the same way self-made American men have been doing it since time immemorial: hard work, bootstraps, determination, elbow grease, perseverance, and a tiny little pile of money from his daddy.

At a New Hampshire town hall televised on the Today show this morning, one attendee asked the famously hardscrabble Trump if he’d ever been told no in his life. “I mean, my whole life, really, has been a no, and I fought through it,” the Republican presidential frontrunner replied. He continued:

It has 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 a million dollars, I came into Manhattan. And I had to pay him back, I had to pay him back with interest. I came into Manhattan, I started buying properties, I did great, and then I built the Grand Hyatt, and I got involved with the convention—I did a good job. But I was always told that that would never work.

With a little grit and a million dollars, you can do anything in this country. You did a good job, Donald.

Contact the author at andy@gawker.com.