President Donald Trump is weighing in on FEMA official Gregg Phillips’ claims that he’s been teleported by a supernatural being.
“What does teleport mean? Was he kidding?” Trump, 79, asked CNN on Thursday, April 14, when discussing Phillips’ alleged transportation to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia, “50 miles away” from where he was.
After the CNN reporter told Trump that Phillips was not joking about his alleged experience with the supernatural, the president admitted, “I don’t know anything about teleporting.”
“It just sounds a little strange, but I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I’ll find out about it right now,” he added.
Us Weekly has reached out to the White House and FEMA for comment.
Trump’s remarks come one year after Phillips — who serves as a high-ranking US Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) official under Trump’s second administration — alleged that he was “teleported” against his will.
“And I ended up at a Waffle House — this was in Georgie, and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” he alleged on a January 2025 episode of the “Onward” podcast. “And they said, ‘Where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And, ‘A Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a minute ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.”
Phillips further claimed, “Teleporting is no fun. You know it’s happening, but you can’t do anything about it, and so you just go, you just go with the ride. And wow, what just an incredible adventure it all was.”
In March, CNN published an investigative report into Phillips’ bizarre claims — including his conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, former president Joe Biden and the supernatural.
As a result of the story and backlash over Phillips’ claims, FEMA issued a statement regarding their employee.
“This is so silly it’s barely worth acknowledging,” a spokesperson told CNN at the time. “DHS, FEMA, and Mr. Phillips are focused on the critical mission of emergency management and ensuring the safety of the American people. Many of the comments cited are taken out of context or represent personal, informal, jovial, and somewhat spiritual discussions made in the context of barely surviving cancer; in a private capacity prior to his current role.”
The White House also reportedly contacted the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA’s parent agency, when Phillips’ stories began making headlines. According to CNN, the White House urged officials to remove Phillips from office or keep him out of the public eye.
“Everyone’s thoughts were, ‘What the hell is this? This guy has got to go,’” a White House official told the outlet last month.
Shortly after CNN published its March report, the outlet revealed that Phillips was pulled from a scheduled Capitol Hill hearing. He has allegedly been “sidelined” from some of FEMA’s operations, according to the publication.
