John Kasich's upcoming book positions him as Donald Trump critic

COLUMBUS - John Kasich's upcoming book will position him as an ongoing critic of President Donald Trump, helping the Ohio governor leave his options open for a possible 2020 bid for president.

The book, "Two Paths: America Divided or United," draws on Kasich's presidential campaign and is set for an April 25 release, the publisher said Tuesday. It draws its title from a speech Kasich gave in April 2016, as his GOP candidacy was drawing to a close, contrasting his policies and vision with those of Trump.

For much of Kasich's presidential campaign, he avoided blunt criticism of Trump. He developed a clearer voice as the GOP primary drew on. After he dropped out, he became one of Trump's most vocal critics, refusing to participate in the GOP convention in his home state or to vote for Trump. 

Since Trump's election, Kasich has tempered his criticism, voicing cautious support for the president and attending the inauguration. But he has continued to advocate for policy positions different than Trump's, such as free trade. On Sunday night, he lashed out against Trump's immigration order, although he said he blamed the president's staff more than Trump himself.

The governor has demurred when asked whether he might launch a primary bid against the president in 2020, and some allies have shot down that notion. But with the release of his book in April, Kasich will renew his critique of Trump, a step that necessarily leaves his options open.

"We cannot allow exclusion to take the place of inclusion," Kasich writes in an excerpt released by the publisher. "We cannot accept distorted truths and half-baked notions simply because they make us feel good – or, because they make us forget for a moment how we really feel. We must hold fast to our principles as a society, because without them we're lost."