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.

Waffle House employees denied seeing Phillips in interviews with The New York Times. None of the employees interviewed said “they were aware of anyone traveling to the 24-hour restaurants by paranormal means,” according to the outlet.

Longtime Waffle House server Shastoni Burge told the Times: “I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen that.”

During that same episode, which aired a year before the Trump administration appointed him as FEMA’s lead, Phillips also alleged that “teleporting is no fun” but is “so real.” He also said he wanted to punch former President Joe Biden, adding that the ex-commander in chief “deserves to die.”

After CNN first reported on Phillips’ remarks, a FEMA spokesperson dismissed the story in a statement, saying it was “so silly [and] barely worth acknowledging,” Newsweek reported. The spokesperson added that Phillips and FEMA as a whole is focused on “the critical mission of emergency management and ensuring the safety of the American people.”

Trump appointed Phillips to lead the federal government’s disaster response unit at FEMA, which is a part of the Department of Homeland Security, in December 2025. Before being appointed, Phillips publicly made other baseless, eyebrow-raising claims, including about voter fraud in the 2016 election.

HuffPost has reached out to the White House, FEMA and DHS for comment.

Phillips appeared to hold steadfast to his remarks in a March 23 Truth Social post, writing, “God will not be mocked. People can debate me. Question me. Even ridicule what they don’t understand.”

“I know what I’ve experienced,” he added. “I know Who I serve.”

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