Donald Trump has a new definition of small. 
 
 In a New Hampshire town hall hosted by the Today show, the Republican candidate for president talked about his start in the real estate business that has made him a billionaire. 
 
 “It’s not been easy for me,” Trump said. “I started off in Brooklyn, my father gave me a small loan of $1 million. I came into Manhattan. I had to pay him back. I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan, I started buying up properties. I did great.” 
 
 Eventually Today show host Matt Lauer interrupted to say what most of America was thinking. 
 
 “By the way, let’s just put this in perspective. You said that it hasn’t been easy for you, but my dad gave me a million dollar loan. That is probably going to seem pretty easy to a lot of people,” Lauer said. 
 
 Trump said, “You’re right. But a million dollars isn’t very much compared to what I built.” ||||| In a town-hall style interview with Matt Lauer on "Today" Monday morning, GOP hopeful Donald Trump insisted that he can relate to "the average American," saying that like them, he has eaten at McDonald's and driven himself in a car -- and received a "small loan" of $1 million from his father to get his first business up and running. 
 
 "My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars," Trump said, as people in the audience gasped audibly and asked, "Small loan?" Trump insisted that the money allowed him entry into the Manhattan real estate market, and that his father made him pay the loan back with interest, but the damage was already done, as even other Today show hosts found that statement absurd: 
 
 I predict we'll be hearing more about that "million dollar loan" from his father Trump mentioned during the @TODAYshow town hall — Savannah Guthrie (@SavannahGuthrie) October 26, 2015 
 
 But they weren't the only ones: 
 
 And a small loan is like $100, not no $1,000,000. Just being real. #TrumpTODAY — Reneé Larson (@whoaitsreesy) October 26, 2015 
 
 @TODAYshow Did he just say a SMALL LOAN of a MILLION DOLLARS!???? #TrumpTODAY — MR. PAUL K. FRISON (@Just_paul215) October 26, 2015 ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201510/1959/1155968404_4578946422001_tttrrrummmp.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true During a town hall event in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on NBC's 'Today,' Donal Trump discussed a 'small loan' from his father. Trump: My dad gave me a 'small loan' of a million dollars 
 
 As Donald Trump tells it, he has been told no his entire life. For example, he said Monday, his father gave him a "small loan of a million dollars" that he had to repay with interest at the start of his career. 
 
 “Oh many times. I’ve been told no by him. My whole life, really has been a no," the Republican presidential candidate said during a town hall event in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on NBC's "Today." 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 “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," Trump remarked. "I came into Manhattan, and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. But I came into Manhattan and I started buying properties, and I did great." 
 
 Trump said his father had told him that going to Manhattan would not work, and later in his life, other people told him that a presidential campaign would not pan out. 
 
 NBC's Matt Lauer followed up on Trump's "small loan" remark: "By the way, let's just put this in perspective, 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." 
 
 "You're right, but a million dollars isn't very much compared to what I've built," Trump countered. "I mean, I've built one of the great companies, but it's always been, you know, you can't do this, you can't do that." ||||| During a town hall held and broadcast by NBC’s Today, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he had a life full of adversity, because he only ever got a million dollar loan from his father. 
 
 An audience member asked Trump if at any point in his life, anybody had ever told him ‘no.’ “Oh, many times,” he responded. “I’ve been told ‘no’ many times. I mean, my whole life really has been a ‘no,’ and I’ve fought through it.” 
 
 “It’s not been easy for me,” Trump continued. “It has not been easy for me, and, you know, 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 and pay him back with interest.” 
 
 “Let’s just put this in perspective,” host Matt Lauer said. “You said it hasn’t been easy for you, ‘but my dad give me a million dollar loan.’ That probably is going to seem pretty easy to a lot of people.” 
 
 “You’re right,” Trump conceded. “But $1 million isn’t very much compared to what I built, I’ve built one of the great companies.” 
 
 Watch above, via NBC. 
 
 [Image via screengrab] 
 
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– It's early, but it's a safe bet that Donald Trump already has uttered the line that will get the most attention of all the candidates on Monday: "My father gave me a small loan of $1 million." He made the comment at a town hall event in New Hampshire hosted by the Today show, reports Politico. When a member of the audience asked whether anyone had ever said no to him, Trump set out to establish an up-by-the-bootstraps narrative, notes Mediaite: “It’s not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me, and, you know, 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 and pay him back with interest.” Moderator Matt Lauer circled back to the remark, noting that a million-dollar loan from dad doesn't exactly sound like a hardship. "You’re right," Trump responded. "But $1 million isn’t very much compared to what I built, I’ve built one of the great companies." The response has been swift, with a Reuters headline conveying a common sentiment: "Trump's teeny tiny $1-million loan from daddy." After all, "what 'ordinary American' can't relate to their father fronting them a cool million to buy Manhattan real estate," wonders a post at Salon. And a story at USA Today suggests it's a "new definition of small."