President Donald Trump’s top official overseeing federal disaster response, who has previously claimed he possessed the power of teleportation, has been pushed out of FEMA.
Gregg Phillips, 65, was removed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Response and Recovery after leadership grew increasingly frustrated by the embarrassment tied to his past public statements and repeated tensions with other senior officials, CNN reported.
A statement from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, confirmed that Phillips had stepped away, citing “personal reasons.”
“FEMA thanks Mr. Phillips for his service, dedication, and leadership as he takes leave for personal reasons,” the statement said.
Phillips was appointed to the agency last December by former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, who herself became the first Cabinet member to be ousted by Trump, 80, in March amid ongoing criticism over her handling of the killing of U.S. citizens by ICE.
His appointment to the agency drew public scrutiny, as he is a longtime conservative activist who has repeatedly shared election fraud conspiracy theories on social media, directed inflammatory remarks at political opponents, and described multiple incidents in which he claimed he had been teleported—most notably saying he was transported miles across Georgia to a Waffle House.
“I was with my boys one time, and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get Waffle House,” Phillips said during a January 2025 episode of the podcast, Onward. “And I ended up at a Waffle House—this was in Georgia, and I end up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was.”
“Teleporting is no fun,” he said on the podcast, co-hosted by conservative activist Catherine Engelbrecht. “It was real,” he added.
Phillips also described another alleged incident in which, while driving, he said he was “lifted up” and teleported about 40 miles from Albany, Georgia, before being dropped in a ditch near a church.
He said he believed he had been teleported more than once, and added that the experiences made him wonder whether they were “evil” or “good.”
The former FEMA leader also had no formal background in disaster response, though he had spent decades working on the ground during disasters through nonprofits and faith-based organizations, according to The Washington Post, which first reported Phillips’ departure.
“He was an image issue, with all the negative stories,” one person told the Post.
Following Phillips’ teleportation comments, even the president questioned his remarks in a brief interview with CNN, saying, “What does teleport mean? Was he kidding?”
When Trump was told the official was not, in fact, joking, he added: “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.”
However, despite Phillips’ reputation, some career officials defended him and expressed frustration over his departure, saying he pushed back against Noem when she sought to scale down the agency and resisted efforts that would have interfered with emergency response work.
“He showed interest in preserving the mission of the agency and helping us serve citizens,” one current agency official told the Post.
The outlet reported that David Arnold, a senior official who left FEMA earlier this year, will return to lead the Office of Response and Recovery in an acting capacity
Phillips’ departure and replacement come as new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, 48, moves to redirect the agency away from what insiders described as “chaotic” dynamics from Noem’s tenure, people familiar with the matter told the Post.
The Daily Beast has reached out to FEMA and the White House for comment.
