In one of the more unusual stories to emerge from federal disaster response circles, Gregg Phillips — the Associate Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Office of Response and Recovery — has claimed he was once mysteriously teleported roughly 50 miles to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.
Phillips, who leads an office of more than 1,000 employees responsible for coordinating federal aid after fires, floods, hurricanes and other major disasters, first described the incident during a January 2025 appearance on the now-deleted podcast Onward. He recounted being with friends (“my boys”) and mentioning his plan to grab food at Waffle House when, suddenly, his car was “lifted up” and he found himself at the 24-hour diner chain about 50 miles away. “I ended up at a Waffle House… like 50 miles away from where I was,” Phillips said. “Don’t know how I got there. But I was there.” He added that “teleporting is no fun” because “you know it’s happening, but you can’t do anything about it.”
Phillips has since doubled down on the story, describing the event as a divine miracle performed by “the hand of God.” In a recent Truth Social post, he clarified that the incident occurred while he was heavily medicated during cancer treatment, but insisted it was real. He has claimed multiple teleportation experiences over the years.
The story gained fresh attention in early April 2026 after a New York Times investigation visited the Waffle House locations in Rome, Georgia. Longtime employees, including night-shift server Shastoni Burge, told the paper they had never seen Phillips and had no memory of any unusual event matching his description.
Phillips, 65, a former top health official in Texas, was appointed to his senior FEMA role in December 2025. He has a public history of promoting election-fraud conspiracy theories and has drawn scrutiny for other controversial statements made on podcasts and social media.
The teleportation claim has sparked widespread online amusement, skepticism, and late-night comedy bits, turning the beloved Southern breakfast chain into an unlikely punchline. While Phillips continues his critical work overseeing disaster recovery, the episode has left many wondering whether the only thing that truly teleported was the story itself — straight into the realm of viral internet lore.
SOURCES:
No One at Waffle House Remembers FEMA Official Who Says He Teleported In – The New York Times
FEMA official says he teleported to a Waffle House in North Georgia – WSB-TV Channel 2 – Atlanta
No one at Waffle House remembers Trump’s FEMA official who claims he was teleported there | The Independent
