PUEBLO, Colo. — Seeking to neutralize a New York Times report that suggested he may not have paid any income tax for years, Donald Trump on Monday cast himself as a savvy businessman and master of the tax code who plans to put that expertise to use on behalf of everyday Americans if he wins the presidency.

Trump addressed the report at a rally deep in the heart of swing state Colorado. There the celebrity businessman turned Republican presidential nominee presented himself as a corporate survivor who “legally” used the tax code to pay as little taxes as possible in order to save his business “during one of the most brutal economic downturns in our country’s history.”

“It’s my job to minimize the overall tax burden to the greatest extent possible,” Trump said. “As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company and my employees.”

Trump repeatedly called the tax code an “unfair system” — while also acknowledging he’s been a beneficiary. But he sought to portray that juxtaposition as a positive, saying he’s the only person in the race who understands the tax code and can fix it. “I am working for you now,” the GOP nominee insisted. “I’m not working for Trump.”

It was Trump’s first public rally since the New York Times reported Sunday on leaked state personal tax filings that showed the real estate mogul reported a $916 million loss in 1995. Tax experts speculated that the loss may have allowed him to reduce or eliminate his income tax burdens for 18 years.

Earlier in the day, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton mocked Trump at an Ohio rally. “What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?” she asked. “How anyone can lose a dollar, let alone a billion dollars, in the casino industry is beyond me. It’s just hard to figure.”

In his own speech, Trump did not directly challenge the report — though he did, at one point, accuse the media of being “obsessed with an alleged tax filing.” But in remarks that were heavier on personal biography than usual and had the air of a corporate motivational speech, Trump recalled the “dark days” of the early 1990s, when his real estate career was on the brink of collapse. He repeatedly described himself as someone who never gave up in spite of the long odds against him.

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In a remark that could also describe his unlikely presidential bid, Trump recalled how “the media and powers that be” wrote him off for dead back then, saying he could never bounce back.

“But I never had any doubts and never gave up,” he said. “That’s because I knew in my heart that when the chips are down is when I perform at my very best. And when people make the mistake of underestimating me, that’s when they are in for their biggest surprise.”

Trump downplayed his corporate bankruptcies and other financial drama. Though his world was collapsing around him, “I enjoyed waking up every day to go to battle,” Trump recalled. “I enjoyed getting up every morning to take on the financial establishment on behalf of my company.”

Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Pueblo, Colo. (Photo: John Locher/AP)

He described that as the kind of thinking that’s needed in the White House — trashing Clinton as someone who “has never created a job in her entire life.”

“The thing that motivates me the most is when people tell me something is impossible,” Trump declared. “For me, impossible is just a starting point.”

Trump’s comments came amid a trip through some of Western swing states. In addition to a nighttime rally north of Denver, Trump is set to campaign in northern Arizona on Tuesday before heading to Nevada, where he will hold two rallies Wednesday before heading back to the East Coast.

The packed schedule means Trump has almost no time for prep against of the next presidential debate in St. Louis on Sunday, Oct. 9. On Monday, the topic randomly came up when Trump experienced a problem with his microphone.

Referring back to his complaint about a faulty mic at last week’s debate in New York, Trump smirked and said, “I thought that was the Commission on Presidential Debates.”