President Donald Trump appeared baffled during a CNN interview Tuesday after he was asked about an official in his administration who claimed he had teleported to a Waffle House 50 miles away.
“What does teleport mean? Was he kidding?” the president questioned after he was put on the spot about the now-viral comments made last month by Gregg Phillips, the associate administrator of FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery.
After being told Phillips was 100% serious, Trump replied, “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.”
Phillips, a 65-year-old far-right conspiracy theorist and high-ranking official, has spoken on multiple podcasts about being teleported against his will, according to CNN.
“I was with my boys one time, and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House – this was in Georgia, and I end[ed] up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said during a since-deleted episode on the podcast “Onward” in January 2025.
