Kansas Republicans are scrambling to protect more than 1,200 aerospace jobs after Donald Trump escalated his trade war with Canada—but their sudden alarm is drawing a merciless response from critics who say they helped create the crisis.

Sen. Roger Marshall vowed Tuesday to fight for Bombardier’s Kansas workforce after Trump threatened to prevent the Canadian aircraft manufacturer from selling its planes in the United States.

The declaration placed Marshall in an uncomfortable political position: defending workers in his home state from an economic threat issued by a president he has strongly supported.

“I’m going to fight to keep Bombardier’s over 1,200 Kansas jobs,” Marshall wrote on X. “I’ve already taken that concern inside the Oval Office.”

Instead of reassuring voters, however, the statement unleashed an avalanche of criticism.

“You have such strong support for the person making these declarations,” one X user responded. “Surprised you don’t stand with him no matter what he does. Own it.”

Trump’s threat lands directly in Kansas

Bombardier is headquartered in Montreal, but its economic footprint extends deep into the United States—particularly Wichita, a city whose identity has been shaped by aviation manufacturing.

The company supports more than 1,200 jobs in Kansas, according to Marshall. Many additional workers and businesses could also be affected through the broader aerospace supply chain.

Trump’s campaign against the company comes amid his expanding trade confrontation with Canada. The president has demanded that Bombardier manufacture more aircraft in the United States, arguing that American customers account for more than half of its sales.

Marshall attempted to embrace part of Trump’s argument while distancing himself from the potential damage.

“America buys more than half of what Bombardier sells,” the senator wrote. “If that’s the market, more of those planes should be built here.”

He described Wichita as home to one of America’s most highly skilled manufacturing workforces and called on Bombardier to restore a presence that was once considerably larger.

“I remember when my classmates’ parents worked at Learjet—later Bombardier—when it employed well over 3,000 people,” Marshall said. “Bombardier is obligated to grow that footprint in Kansas again.”

But critics argued that the senator was avoiding the central point: The immediate threat to those existing jobs was coming from Trump.

“Stand up for common sense”

Tim Jenkins, co-founder of Point B Inc., accused Republicans of failing to challenge a trade war he described as lacking any rational justification.

“This shouldn’t even be an issue—there is no rhyme nor reason to a trade war with Canada,” Jenkins wrote.

“If Republicans like you would all do your jobs and stand up for common sense and the American people, Trump’s increasingly bizarre ideas would be marginalized to a much greater degree.”

Another commenter mocked Marshall’s claim that he had taken the issue “inside the Oval Office,” asking whom he had spoken with and whether someone there had made the decision threatening the Kansas jobs.

The reaction revealed the political trap facing Republican lawmakers. They want voters to believe they can privately influence Trump, yet they have limited power to prevent him from publicly issuing threats that immediately endanger businesses in their states.

A suddenly competitive Senate race

Marshall’s response is particularly significant because his reelection race has become more competitive than Republicans expected in traditionally conservative Kansas.

CNN host Dana Bash noted that Marshall’s political vulnerability may help explain his urgent attempt to show voters that he is acting.

His Democratic opponent, Adam Hamilton, had already seized on Trump’s Bombardier threat and Marshall’s initial silence.

“The decision to ban Bombardier from selling in the U.S. is a direct attack on Kansas workers and Kansas jobs,” Hamilton said.

He accused Trump of pursuing “chaotic economic policy” that was hurting Kansans and argued that Marshall had failed to respond quickly enough.

Marshall is no longer silent—but his intervention has not ended the controversy.

Other Kansas Republicans sound the alarm

Marshall is not the only Kansas Republican attempting to persuade Trump to change course.

Sen. Jerry Moran said he contacted the administration to ensure that Trump understood Bombardier’s importance to Wichita workers and the state’s aerospace economy.

Rep. Ron Estes called the company “critical” to the region’s dominance in aircraft manufacturing. He urged Trump to exempt aviation products and parts from tariffs.

The coordinated appeals reveal how quickly the president’s trade threats can collide with Republican economic interests at home.

NPR’s Tamara Keith said GOP lawmakers were attempting to “show some separation between themselves and their president.”

CNN reporter Patrick Svitek suggested that one strategy available to threatened Republican incumbents is to emphasize that they remain in contact with the administration and possess an “open line of communication.”

The question is whether that will satisfy voters if jobs disappear.

Republicans must live with the consequences

Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Tia Mitchell summarized the dilemma confronting Trump’s allies: Even if they privately lobby the president or cautiously distance themselves from individual decisions, they cannot escape the consequences of his policies.

“They still have to deal with the fallout,” Mitchell said.

That fallout includes workers fearing for their livelihoods, farmers and businesses confronting tariffs, and consumers worried about rising prices.

Republicans can promise to fight Trump’s decisions after they are announced. But voters may increasingly ask why those lawmakers did not use their power earlier—or why they continued supporting a president whose threats now place their own constituents at risk.

For Kansas Republicans, the Bombardier crisis has become more than a dispute over aircraft manufacturing. It is a test of whether loyalty to Trump carries a price—and whether 1,200 workers will be forced to pay it.