Donald J. Trump — the rare defendant who can afford a judgment of this size — could secure a bond to cover it while his appeals play out.
Donald J. Trump might one day have to pay E. Jean Carroll the $83.3 million she was awarded, but that day is not today.
Mr. Trump called the jury’s decision “Absolutely ridiculous!” and vowed to appeal the verdict, a process that could take months or more.
And while he is waiting for an appellate court to rule, Mr. Trump need not cut Ms. Carroll a check.
Yet the former president is still on the hook to pay something — possibly a sizable sum — while he waits.
Mr. Trump can pay the $83.3 million to the court, which will hold the money while the appeal is pending. This is what he did last year when a jury ordered him to pay Ms. Carroll $5.5 million in a related case.
Or, Mr. Trump can try to secure a bond, which will save him from having to pay the full amount up front.
A bond might require him to pay a deposit and offer collateral, and would come with interest and fees. It would also require Mr. Trump to find a financial institution willing to lend him a large sum of money at a time when he is in significant legal jeopardy.
Although Mr. Trump likes to boast of his billions, much of his wealth is linked to the value of his properties, and he is loath to part with vast sums of cash at once.
And when it comes to his varied legal expenses — of which there are many — he tries to avoid spending his own money at all. Mr. Trump has tapped his political action committee’s coffers to pay for his own legal fees and other expenses stemming from his criminal indictments and civil trials.
Yet $83.3 million eclipses the amount in his political accounts. The verdict on Friday will require Mr. Trump to reach into his own pocket.
Still, if the verdict survives Mr. Trump’s appeals, Ms. Carroll should eventually be paid, according to Bruce Green, director of the Louis Stein Center for Law and Ethics at Fordham University.
“He’s the rare defendant with an $83 million verdict against him who actually has the money,” Mr. Green said. “Wherever this lands, she should be able to collect.”
He has enough cash to cover the verdict in various accounts, a person close to him said. In recent years, Mr. Trump has unloaded several assets, including his Washington hotel, which sold for $375 million.
Yet the verdict on Friday is not the only payout upcoming for Mr. Trump. The New York attorney general is seeking a $370 million penalty from the former president and his family business as part of a civil fraud trial that wrapped up this month.
The judge in that case is expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks. If Mr. Trump is ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars, it is unclear whether he would have to sell another asset to make a payment like that.
