Donald Trump’s threat to block Bombardier aircraft sales in the United States has sparked an unusually unsympathetic reaction from some liberal Kansas voters, who reminded the state that elections have consequences.
The controversy erupted after Trump declared on social media that there should be “NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!” while accusing the Canadian aircraft manufacturer of benefiting from American customers without doing enough manufacturing inside the country.
That matters enormously in Wichita, where Bombardier maintains its U.S. headquarters and employs more than 1,200 workers.
As The Wichita Eagle reported, Bombardier’s local workforce is heavily involved in defense operations, while the company holds a multi-year U.S. Air Force contract worth nearly $465 million.
Trump’s threat has therefore landed in a state that overwhelmingly backed him in 2024. Official Kansas results show Trump received 57.16% of the statewide presidential vote.
For several commenters on the Kansas subreddit, that made sympathy difficult to find.
One Reddit user looked specifically at Wichita’s home county, writing: “Wichita, is in Sedgwick County. Who voted 56.09% for Trump in 2024. Enjoy the day you voted for Wichita and Sedgwick County.”
Another was even more direct: “Right on Sedgwick County! You got the government you voted for!”
Kansas Reddit Turns Trump’s Threat Into Political Punchline
That sentiment quickly became the dominant joke among the comments provided in the thread.
When one user asked when Kansans would realize that “the Republican agenda does not include supporting them,” another replied that they had been wondering the same thing “for decades.”
A third offered a considerably shorter prediction: “Never.”
Others treated the Bombardier dispute as an example of Republican economic policy colliding with a Republican-leaning community. One sarcastically called the situation “some winning free market capitalism right there.”
Another simply wrote: “Good. They get what they voted for.”
Not everyone agreed that Wichita would necessarily lose from a Bombardier sales ban. One commenter argued that competing aircraft manufacturer Textron, whose Cessna operations are also based in Wichita, could benefit if Bombardier were pushed out of the American market.
That remains speculation, while the immediate political concern in Kansas is much clearer. Republican Sen. Jerry Moran has already contacted the Trump administration about Bombardier’s importance to Kansas workers, while Republican gubernatorial nominee Ty Masterson warned that an outright ban risking Wichita jobs would be “the wrong way to get there.”
That creates the uncomfortable twist Reddit commenters seized upon. Trump wants more aircraft manufacturing in America. Kansas helped put him back in the White House. Now politicians in one of America’s most famous aviation cities are hoping his America-first trade fight does not hit their own runway first.
