Trump gives his verdict on teleportation and vows to find out more
A senior government official’s claims that he was teleported to a Waffle House have stunned the US president.
For years, Gregg Phillips, a member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has regaled a tale of when he found himself 50 miles away from where he had been, sitting in a Waffle House in Georgia.
Now, Donald Trump has chimed in on the claims.
Speaking to CNN on the phone, Trump asked: ‘What does teleport mean? Was he kidding?’
After being told the story, 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.’
After Phillips made the bizarre claim in March, the Department of Homeland Security reportedly wanted the FEMA official kept out of public view.
He was also ordered to stop making posts about his teleportation claim on Trump’s Truth Social platform.
Speaking to a podcast after his supposed experience, Phillips said: ‘Teleporting is no fun. It was real.
‘I was with my boys one time, and I was telling them I was gonna go to Waffle House and get a Waffle House. And I ended up at a Waffle House – this was in Georgia, and I ended up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was,’ he added.
‘And they said, ‘where are you?’ and I said, ‘A Waffle House.’ And ‘a Waffle House where?’ And I said, ‘Waffle House in Rome, Georgia.’ And they said, ‘That’s not possible, you just left here a moment ago.’ But it was possible. It was real.’
Phillips has also claimed he spoke to the devil while walking in Spain, and woke up in a McDonald’s parking lot with a Big Mac in his lap after collapsing inside a shop across the street.
What is the FEMA Waffle House index?
It’s a bit ironic that Phillips, who works at FEMA, has claimed to teleport to a Waffle House.
The organisation he works for, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, responds to natural disasters and uses the breakfast eatery to measure the severity of storms.
Most of the 1,700 Waffle House locations are dotted in the south and along the East Coast of the country, and have generators and backup systems in case of emergency.
So if the humble, steadfast Waffle House is closed during a hurricane or snowstorm, FEMA knows the situation is bad.
The ‘Waffle House Index’ was created by former FEMA administrator Craig Fugate, who made a unique observation when coordinating a rescue response after a disaster in 2004.
‘If you get there and Waffle House is closed? That’s really bad,’ Fugate previously said.
Learn more about the unique Waffle House index in our piece here.
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‘The whole space and time thing, continuum, got all — it fell with me,’ he said. “
‘This isn’t a health thing. This isn’t the cancer. This isn’t me. This is a spiritual thing.’
On another podcast, Phillips claimed he was woken up in the middle of the night by God who told him his cancer had returned.
‘I’ll never forget it. And he said, ‘Hey, your cancer’s back, but don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he said.
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