WEST CALDWELL – As most of them are, last week was an interesting one for Donald Trump on the foreign policy front.  We saw the president saunter into North Korea with Kim Jong-un and joke with Vladimir Putin about Russian election meddling.

For some, all of this was too much to take. During a periodic “Mondays with Mikie” event tonight in Borough Hall, Rep. Mikie Sherrill was pointedly asked why she hasn’t called for Trump’s impeachment.

One woman called the president a “despot,” while another suggested that the Mueller report and the jailing of a number of Trump associates should convince Sherrill the president must be removed.
The topic has popped up before at Sherrill events, which generally draw a Democratic-leaning crowd, but the questions tonight were more passionate than usual.

Sherrill’s routine answer to all this – reiterated tonight – was that she wants to see the unredacted Mueller report and hear his testimony. She added that she also wants to hear any evidence of heretofore
unknown wrongdoing.

It was a good answer, although it didn’t seem to satisfy the questioners.

But then Sherrill accepted the premise of U.S. foreign policy in disarray and explained why she thinks that’s the case.

“We are backing away from NATO and our world alliances,” she said.

Referring to the president’s demand that NATO countries pay more to support the alliance,  Sherrill suggested that NATO’s value to U.S. security goes beyond monetary considerations alone.

She postulated that the United States would be in a stronger position dealing with Iran if it had support of its traditional allies, some of whom still back the Iranian nuclear deal the president scuttled. Additionally, the congresswoman faulted the president for his seeming fondness for dictators.

The congresswoman was also questioned about her support last week for a $4.6 billion bill to fund humanitarian aid for migrant children. The bill was opposed by some House liberals because it gave more money to immigration enforcement.

Sherrill insisted that to vote “no” would have deprived children at the border of any aid at all.

As things wound down and Sherrill was walking out, she was asked a related question. This one had to do with money for immigration judges. The congresswoman explained she backs more judges, although
she voted against an earlier bill primarily because of where the money was coming from.

Of more interest perhaps is that the man who quizzed Sherrill on this topic, Keith Dakin, a Mendham Republican, told me he was thinking about running against the congresswoman next year.

Whether that happens remains to be seen. However, as of now, Republicans have no visible challenger to Sherrill in District 11.