Trump Calls FEMA Official’s Teleportation Claims ‘A Little Strange’ as Scrutiny Grows Over Gregg Phillips Appointment

President Donald Trump publicly addressed the growing controversy surrounding senior FEMA official Gregg Phillips, describing Phillips’s claims about teleportation and other supernatural experiences as “a little strange.” Phillips, who has held a prominent role at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has faced increasing public scrutiny after past statements resurfaced in which he described teleporting to a Waffle House restaurant and recounted other spiritual and paranormal experiences he says occurred while undergoing treatment for metastatic bone cancer.

Gregg Phillips’s path to a senior FEMA position is rooted in his long involvement in conservative political activism, particularly in the area of election integrity. Phillips co-founded True the Vote, a Houston-based organization that has focused on voter fraud allegations. He gained significant national prominence through his appearance in the Dinesh D’Souza-produced film “2000 Mules,” which alleged widespread ballot trafficking during the 2020 presidential election — claims that were widely disputed by election officials, fact-checkers, and courts. Despite these controversies, Phillips maintained close ties to Trump-aligned political circles, which ultimately led to his appointment to a senior role at FEMA during the second Trump administration. His placement at the agency, which oversees the federal government’s disaster preparedness and response operations, raised questions among emergency management professionals even before the teleportation claims drew broader public attention.

The teleportation claims stem from Phillips’s extensive social media presence, where he has shared deeply personal accounts of his battle with metastatic bone cancer. Over the past year, Phillips has described a series of supernatural and spiritual experiences he says accompanied his illness and treatment, including an account of teleporting to a Waffle House restaurant. While Phillips has framed these narratives within a spiritual context — describing them as encounters with God and evidence of divine intervention during his cancer fight — critics have questioned whether someone who publicly espouses belief in teleportation and other paranormal phenomena should hold a leadership role at a federal agency responsible for evidence-based emergency response. Supporters, meanwhile, have argued that Phillips’s spiritual beliefs are personal matters and should not disqualify him from public service, noting that many Americans hold religious beliefs that include miraculous or supernatural elements.

Trump’s characterization of Phillips’s statements as “a little strange” was notably measured, neither a full-throated defense of his appointee nor a signal that personnel changes are imminent. The president’s comments came as the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season approaches, a period when FEMA’s operational readiness faces its most critical annual test. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast an active hurricane season, which means FEMA’s leadership and coordination capabilities will be under intense scrutiny in the coming months. Emergency management experts across the political spectrum have stressed that public confidence in FEMA’s competence and decision-making is essential during disaster response, when clear communication and trust can be matters of life and death.

The Phillips controversy also intersects with a broader debate about the qualifications and vetting processes for political appointees across federal agencies. Government watchdog groups have noted that the Trump administration has moved to install loyalists in key positions throughout the federal bureaucracy, sometimes prioritizing political alignment over subject-matter expertise. Whether Phillips remains in his role or faces reassignment could signal how the administration balances these competing priorities as it enters a period when FEMA’s mission-critical functions will be tested by real-world events.