'Obviously ridiculous': Trump veers into bizarre fixation on adding neighboring countries as states

Still weeks away from returning to office, Donald Trump is showing himself to be as petty and vindictive as he was in his first term, turning the tragic, devastating wildfire crisis in Los Angeles into a political gotcha game with distorted lies and accusations.

Alex Wagner takes a closer look at the roots of Donald Trump's fixation of re-taking possession of the Panama Canal and adding Greenland and Canada as new American territories, and whether there is cause for concern in Trump's expansionist inclinations despite the his inherent goofiness.

Judge Juan Merchan denied Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his hush money case in New York and scheduled a sentencing for January 10th, which could mean that Donald Trump will officially be a felon when he is sworn in as president. Lisa Rubin, MSNBC legal correspondent, and Kristy Greenberg, former federal prosecutor, explain what options Trump has left and what is likely to happen.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett talks with Ali Velshi about the Republican chaos threatening to entangle House Speaker Mike Johnson in a familiar, embarrassing fight to retain the speakership into the new Congress with a tiny majority and having squandered the good will of his colleagues across the aisle who might otherwise save him. 

A special two hour edition of Alex Wagner Tonight.

Plus, Trump's anti-immigration plans face resource challenge at the state level

Republicans are mired in chaos and infighting as they humiliate themselves on the national stage again without being able to pass a spending bill to keep the federal government open. Elon Musk is only making matters worse, but that hasn't deterred a faction of the Republican Party from wanting to give him a more formal leadership role. Musk, meanwhile, is only a portion of the corporate feeding frenzy taking advantage of Donald Trump's weaknesses.

After Elon Musk expressed his opposition to a new spending bill, Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters followed suit, undermining House Speaker Mike Johnson and steering the U.S. toward a federal government shutdown. Meanwhile, Democrats are stepping away from the Republican chaos, leaving the GOP stuck in its own inability to govern.

Donald Trump is pressing his grievances with the media through lawsuits, but his case against the Des Moines Register over poll results he didn't like is so poorly conceived from a legal standpoint that his real goal of using the court system as an intimidation weapon is hard to miss.

As some Senate Republicans recoil at some of Donald Trump's more extreme picks to serve in his administration, Trump is turning up the pressure on anyone who would dare defy him. Eric Cortellessa, staff writer for Time, and Tara Palmeri, senior political correspondent for Puck News, discuss.