Donald Trump said his career hasn't been 'easy' because he needed a 'small loan' to get started. It was $1 million from his father.

Donald Trump
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/@TODAYshow)

Donald Trump might have the least convincing sob story in the history of politics. On a Today town hall Monday, an audience member asked the Republican presidential hopeful if he's ever been told "no."

"My whole life has really been a 'no,' and I fought through it... It has not been easy for me," the billionaire real estate mogul said. "I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars."

Trump was quick to add that when he started buying properties in Manhattan, he paid back his father's pocket change — er, giant loan — with interest. Quick, someone break out the world's smallest violin.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.