Hi. I’m a bit of a news junkie.
From the article, he has to put up the money in order to appeal:
Though he has vowed to appeal both cases, he must immediately grapple with the enormous sums that are at stake: To keep both judgments from being enforced while he appeals, he must put up the entire amount in either cash or bonds, according to legal experts. Usually, defendants must put up such bonds within 30 days of a final judgment to keep the plaintiff from collecting, experts said.
If he doesn’t appeal and doesn’t pay his penalty, NY has already indicated they’ll seize his assets:
New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC News on Tuesday that she will seek to seize some of the former president’s assets if he’s unable to cover the bill from Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling.
Some additional interesting points in the cited poll report:
This comment is so disingenuous. Your link said guaranteed sick leave was the sticking point in December 2022:
The initial agreement brokered by the Biden administration was accepted by all but four rail unions, who were holding out for guaranteed paid sick leave days. The opposing unions, though, represent the majority of rail workers. The workers and companies had until Dec. 9 to reach an agreement before they vowed to strike, which the industry estimated would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day.
But five months later, it was resolved:
When Joe Biden and Congress enacted legislation in December that blocked a threatened freight rail strike, many workers angrily faulted Biden for not ensuring that the legislation also guaranteed paid sick days. But since then, union officials says, members of the Biden administration, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and labor secretary, Marty Walsh, who stepped down on 11 March, lobbied the railroads, telling them it was wrong not to grant paid sick days.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave
I think you’re overthinking this. Your original comment asked about the consequences of him saying “no,” so I outlined the legal options the prosecutor of the case has already considered and discussed. Let’s see what happens soon.