Deirdre Shesgreen

dshesgreen@usatoday.com

WASHINGTON—If Ohio Gov. John Kasich is ready to mend fences with his political nemesis—the soon-to-be president of the United States—he didn’t say so on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Asked why he decided to attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, Kasich didn’t even utter Trump’s name.

“I always respect the president,” Kasich said Thursday, as he hustled between meetings on Capitol Hill. “It’s the presidency of the United States. Of course you support it.”

Kasich was the last Republican to drop out of the 2016 GOP presidential primary and cede the nomination to Trump. But after running as a mainstream alternative to Trump, Kasich never endorsed the brash New York real-estate mogul. Indeed, he continued to battle publicly with Trump throughout the general election and cast his vote on Nov. 8 for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona senator who was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008.

McCain’s office was Kasich’s first official stop in Washington on Thursday. Their closed-door meeting was officially described as a tete-a-tete on national security. And Kasich emerged from the meeting glowing with an invitation from the senator to attend the Munich Security Conference, a high-powered confab of global leaders who gather in Germany to discuss the world’s most pressing military threats.

Kasich ducked into an elevator before reporters could ask him more about the February event--or about Trump. He had other meetings to attend—two more closed-door sessions with GOP leaders, focused on Obamacare repeal.

After giving lawmakers an earful on health care reform, Kasich hopped on a bus Friday morning with other GOP governors for Trump’s inauguration.

Before the festivities began, Kasich tweeted a message saying he was "honored" to attend the inauguration. It was not clear exactly where Kasich was stationed during the ceremony. But Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas tweeted a photo of Kasich "moments before the transfer of power," standing on the platform with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.