2026-04-14T09:00:55.320Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：安德鲁·卡钦斯基、加布·科恩
3小时前发布 | 2026年4月14日美国东部时间上午5:00
2026年1月24日，国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆在新闻发布会上发言时，联邦紧急事务管理局（FEMA）高级官员格雷格·菲利普斯在一旁聆听。
阿尔·德拉戈/盖蒂图片社
多年来，现任FEMA高级官员格雷格·菲利普斯一直在讲述一些模糊了平凡与超自然界限的故事。
已故的前女友曾将他的汽车从路面抬起，避免了一场撞车事故。他在西班牙徒步时，撒旦曾与他对话。在印第安纳波利斯的一家劳氏五金店晕倒后，他在街对面的麦当劳停车场醒来，健康应用上显示他走了15000步，腿上还放着一个巨无霸汉堡，却几乎不记得刚刚发生了什么。
在多个右翼播客中讲述这些故事时，菲利普斯表示，这些经历大多发生在他因转移性骨癌接受治疗期间。他说自己没有接受化疗，而是选择自行服用伊维菌素和芬苯达唑——这两种通常用于给动物驱虫的抗寄生虫药物。
近几周来，菲利普斯仍坚称自己曾瞬移到佐治亚州的一家华夫饼屋，称自己突然发现自己身处距离片刻前所在位置约50英里的地方。CNN在3月首次报道了这一说法。
如今，这些言论在联邦政府内部引发热议。
周四上午，唐纳德·特朗普总统在接受CNN简短的手机采访时被问及菲利普斯的言论，他说：“瞬移是什么意思？他在开玩笑吗？”
当被告知菲利普斯并非在开玩笑时，特朗普回应道：“我对瞬移一无所知……这听起来有点奇怪，但我对瞬移或他这个人都不了解，不过我现在就会去了解一下。”
一名白宫官员告诉CNN，在CNN首次报道菲利普斯的瞬移言论后，白宫联系了FEMA的上级机构国土安全部，敦促官员要么将菲利普斯撤职，要么让他避免公开露面。
“所有人的想法都是，‘这到底是什么鬼东西？这家伙必须走人，’”该官员说。
与此同时，菲利普斯仍在公开场合坚称自己确实瞬移过。
CNN报道发布后的几天内，菲利普斯就被取消了原定参加国会山听证会的资格。多名FEMA消息人士透露，此后他被悄悄排除在FEMA部分工作之外。一位知情人士告诉CNN，他还被要求停止在Truth Social平台上发布有关瞬移的内容。
多名消息人士表示，菲利普斯怒不可遏——如今他认定FEMA和国土安全部内的特朗普官员一直在针对他。与菲利普斯共事的多名FEMA内部人士告诉CNN，自此之后他变得越来越焦躁多疑。
尽管身为FEMA三号人物，菲利普斯还是被排除在了上周新上任的国土安全部部长马克韦恩·穆林前往北卡罗来纳州西部的行程之外。该地区目前仍在恢复2024年飓风海伦带来的破坏。穆林随行的是两名FEMA高级政治官员——而非负责灾害应对与恢复工作、曾在飓风过后前往该地区的菲利普斯。
穆林反而与FEMA代理局长凯伦·埃文斯以及外部事务副管理员维多利亚·巴顿一同出席活动，并在圆桌会议上赞扬了埃文斯。菲利普斯全程未被提及。
CNN就此事联系了菲利普斯、FEMA和国土安全部征求评论，但均未得到回复。
自称遭遇超自然事件的过往经历
CNN回顾了菲利普斯过去五年的播客节目、直播和采访，发现他一贯发布离奇言论。在过去五年的数十段录音中，菲利普斯多次描述他所谓的超自然遭遇，常将其包装为宗教或精神体验。
菲利普斯称，这类经历太过频繁，以至于他在阿拉巴马州莫比尔的一位朋友开始相信他“一半在人间，一半在天堂”，是上帝为了完成未竟的事业让他留在世间，并戏称他为“上帝的僵尸”。
“我其实已经死了，”菲利普斯在2025年4月说道，“但我还在这里做上帝的工作。我们偶尔会拿这个开玩笑。”
2022年7月，格雷格·菲利普斯（右）与“真实投票”创始人凯瑟琳·恩格尔布雷希特在拉斯维加斯的一场活动中。
布里奇特·贝内特/路透社/档案照片
CNN保留了过去几年“前进”播客的节目副本，该播客由保守派活动家凯瑟琳·恩格尔布雷希特联合主持，她经常与菲利普斯合作，传播有关大范围选民欺诈的虚假且未经证实的言论。
包括菲利普斯发表瞬移言论在内的多期节目，似乎在CNN最初报道后就从公共平台上下架了。
在2025年1月的同一期播客中，菲利普斯描述了一场险些发生的车祸：他称已故的前女友进入了他正在行驶的汽车，将车抬离路面，避免了与迎面驶来的卡车相撞。菲利普斯说，当时他开的是最近在扑克游戏中赢来的车。
“和我约会过的那个女孩进到了我的车里，那个已经去世的女孩，”菲利普斯说，“她说‘你活不过这一劫了，所以我要带你走。’她把我和车抬起来，避开了一辆滑过路面、径直朝我撞来的卡车。”
在同一期播客中，菲利普斯还描述了自己在午夜被上帝叫醒的经历，称上帝坐在他的床上，告诉他癌症复发了。
“他把我扶起来坐在床上，和我一起盘腿而坐，我永远都忘不了那个场景，”菲利普斯说，“他说：‘嘿，你的癌症又复发了，但别担心，一切有我。’”
在2025年的多次露面中，菲利普斯都谈到了他在印第安纳波利斯劳氏五金店的经历：他说自己在出差时晕倒，消失了约两个小时，期间他的手机显示他走了约15000步，但他称自己几乎无法行走。他醒来时，发现自己在街对面的麦当劳停车场，腿上放着一个巨无霸汉堡。
菲利普斯多次从精神层面解释这起事件。
“整个空间和时间的连续性，都——和我一起崩塌了，”他说，“这不是健康问题。不是癌症的问题。不是我个人的问题。这是精神层面的问题。”
“显然，在某个时刻，我开车经过了免下车窗口，买了一杯可乐和一个巨无霸，然后停下车睡了两个小时，”菲利普斯说，他还声称自己回到劳氏五金店后再次“消失”了。
2026年2月11日，格雷格·菲利普斯出席众议院拨款委员会国土安全小组委员会听证会。
格雷姆·斯隆/彭博社/盖蒂图片社
2022年的另一段叙述中，菲利普斯描述了他在西班牙徒步时的经历：他称撒旦走近他，劝他减轻背包重量。菲利普斯说，他回应的方式是倒出了最后两升水，导致自己陷入困境，直到一名路人发现并求助。
“魔鬼就在我身后说：‘伙计，减轻背包重量，’”菲利普斯说，“所以……我把最后一瓶两升装的水倒在了地上。”
“我没能撑住，是基督把我带到了这个地方，”菲利普斯补充道，谈及自己的获救经历。
“撒旦骗了我。他说服我倒掉水瓶以减轻背包重量。他差点就如愿以偿，眼睁睁看着我死掉，”菲利普斯在2025年发布在Truth Social平台的另一段描述该事件的视频中说道。
FEMA内部的动荡
消息人士称，自菲利普斯去年12月入职FEMA以来，他就与该机构的其他政治领导人产生了冲突，特别是那些响应前国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆及其副手科里·勒万多夫斯基的要求，计划削减FEMA员工队伍、加强对其开支和日常工作管控的官员。
菲利普斯多次警告称，这些举措会将美国民众置于险境，这为他赢得了一些高级机构工作人员的尊重——这些人担心特朗普第二任期内FEMA的能力已被削弱。
2026年1月24日，华盛顿特区FEMA总部国家响应协调中心内的工作人员正在工作。
阿尔·德拉戈/盖蒂图片社
数月来，这些高级工作人员辩称，尽管菲利普斯过往履历存在污点，且发表过诸多有争议的阴谋论言论，但他仍是该机构内部最通情达理、最值得信赖的政治任命官员。他们表示，菲利普斯是少数愿意挺身而出保护团队的人。
“这简直就是卡夫卡式的荒诞，”一名FEMA高级官员说，“在某种程度上，我确信我的同事和我已经对过去一年里接连不断的领导人更迭带来的荒谬感麻木了。”
另一方面，FEMA代理局长埃文斯被广泛视为与诺姆和勒万多夫斯基立场一致的人。埃文斯在他们推行的大规模裁员和严格审批流程中发挥了关键作用，这些举措扼杀了机构职能，导致数十亿美元的拨款和灾害援助在FEMA积压，令全国议员、州政府官员以及机构工作人员都感到不满。
CNN报道发布后，FEMA的职业领导层陷入了罕见的两难境地：一边是他们认为令人不安且荒谬的言论，另一边则是担心失去菲利普斯会让机构处境更糟。一些人对此一笑了之，另一些人则耸耸肩继续工作。
“没错，很难相信一个声称自己瞬移过还拒不改口的人的判断力，”另一名高级官员说，“但他似乎真的很关心民众，这一点我非常欣赏。而且我认为他很关心飓风季的防灾准备工作。”
高级官员们数月来一直表示，FEMA已经不再是特朗普15个月前接手时的样子。裁员、高级领导层大规模离职以及机构未来的不明朗，让许多内部人士警告称，本届特朗普政府尚未遭遇过大规模跨州灾难，如今却已准备不足。
他们表示，FEMA的未来悬而未决，而离奇的菲利普斯事件正是这场动荡的核心。
‘Was he kidding?’ Trump reacts to FEMA official’s claim he teleported to Waffle House
2026-04-14T09:00:55.320Z / CNN
By Andrew Kaczynski, Gabe Cohen
3 hr ago
PUBLISHED Apr 14, 2026, 5:00 AM ET
FEMA official Gregg Phillips listens as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference on January 24, 2026.
Al Drago/Getty Images
For years, Gregg Phillips — now a senior FEMA official — has told stories that blur the boundary between the ordinary and the supernatural.
A dead girlfriend once lifted his car off the road to avoid a crash. Satan once spoke to him while he walked across Spain. After collapsing inside an Indianapolis Lowe’s, he came to in a McDonald’s parking lot across the street with 15,000 steps logged on his health app, a Big Mac in his lap, and little understanding of what had just happened.
In telling these stories across various right-wing podcasts, Phillips has said many of the experiences occurred while he was in and out of treatment for metastatic bone cancer. Rather than undergo chemotherapy, Phillips says he chose instead to rely on a self-directed regimen of ivermectin and fenbendazole, antiparasitic drugs commonly used to deworm animals.
Phillips has also continued in recent weeks to insist he teleported to a Waffle House in Georgia, saying he suddenly found himself roughly 50 miles from where he had been moments earlier — a story first reported by CNN in March.
Those claims are now reverberating around the federal government.
In a brief interview with CNN on his cellphone Thursday morning about Phillips, President Donald Trump said, “What does teleport mean? Was he kidding?”
Told that Phillips was not kidding, Trump responded: “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 CNN first reported on Phillips’ teleportation claims, the White House contacted the Department of Homeland Security — FEMA’s parent agency —urging officials either to remove Phillips or keep him out of public view, a White House official told CNN.
“Everyone’s thoughts were, ‘What the hell is this? This guy has got to go,’” the official said.
Meanwhile, Phillips continued to insist publicly that he teleported.
Within days of CNN’s report, Phillips was pulled from a scheduled Capitol Hill hearing. He has since been quietly sidelined from parts of FEMA’s operations, according to multiple agency sources. He was also directed to stop posting about teleportation on Truth Social, a source familiar told CNN.
Several sources said Phillips was furious — and is now convinced that Trump officials at FEMA and DHS were angling against him. Since then, he has grown increasingly agitated and suspicious, multiple FEMA insiders who work with Phillips told CNN.
Despite his job as the No. 3 FEMA official, Phillips was left off a trip last week that newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took to western North Carolina, where communities are still recovering from Hurricane Helene’s devastation in 2024. Mullin brought along two top FEMA political officials — but not Phillips, who oversees disaster response and recovery and had traveled to the region after the storm.
Instead, Mullin appeared alongside FEMA acting chief Karen Evans and Associate Administrator for External Affairs Victoria Barton, praising Evans during a roundtable. Phillips was not mentioned.
CNN reached out to Phillips, FEMA and DHS for comment on this story. None of them replied.
A history of claimed supernatural encounters
A review of Phillips’ podcast appearances, livestreams and interviews over the past five years reveals a pattern of outlandish claims. Across dozens of recordings reviewed by CNN from the last five years, Phillips repeatedly described what he characterized as supernatural encounters, often framing them as part of a religious or spiritual experience.
Phillips said his experiences occurred so often that a friend in Mobile, Alabama came to believe he was “half in and half out” of heaven, kept alive by God to finish unfinished work, and jokingly referred to him as “God’s zombie.”
“I’m actually dead,” Phillips said in April 2025. “But I’m here doing God’s stuff. And so we laugh about that a little bit.”
Gregg Phillips, right, attends an event in Las Vegas in July 2022, alongside Catherine Engelbrecht, founder of True the Vote.
Bridget Bennett/Reuters/File
CNN saved copies of episodes from the past several years of the “Onward” podcast co-hosted by Catherine Engelbrecht, a conservative activist who frequently collaborates with Phillips in promoting false and unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
The episodes, including where Phillips made his teleportation comments, appear to have been removed from public platforms following CNN’s initial reporting.
On the same January 2025 podcast where he mentioned teleportation, Phillips described a near-crash in the desert in which he said a deceased girlfriend appeared inside his moving car and lifted it off the road to avoid an oncoming truck. Phillips said he was driving a car he had recently won in a poker game.
“The girl that I had dated came into the car with me, the girl that had died,” Phillips said. “She said ‘You’re not going to survive this. So I’m going to take you away.’ And she lifted me and the car up and out of the way from a truck that had slid across the road and had come all the way across the road and was about to hit me.”
On the same podcast, Phillips described being woken in the middle of the night by God, who he said sat on his bed and told him his cancer had returned.
“He sat me up in the bed and he sat cross-legged with me, I’ll never forget it,” Phillips said. “And he said, ‘Hey, your cancer’s back, but don’t worry, I’ve got this.’”
In multiple appearances in 2025, Phillips discussed his experiences at an Indianapolis Lowe’s hardware store, where he said he collapsed during a work trip and disappeared for roughly two hours, during which his phone recorded about 15,000 steps despite him saying he could barely walk. He came to, he said, in a McDonald’s parking lot across the street with a Big Mac in his lap.
Phillips repeatedly described the incident in spiritual terms.
“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.”
“At some point, I had gone through the drive-through, apparently, gotten a Coke and a Big Mac, and then parked and fell asleep for two hours,” Phillips said, claiming he again disappeared after going back to the Lowe’s.
Gregg Phillips attends a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing on February 11, 2026.
Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg/Getty Images
In another account in 2022 , Phillips described a hike he took across Spain during which he said he was approached by Satan, who urged him to lighten his pack. Phillips said he responded by pouring out his last two liters of water, leaving him in distress until he was found by a passerby who sought help.
“The devil’s right behind me saying, ‘Dude, lighten your pack,’” Phillips said. “So… I poured the last two-liter bottle of water that I had out on the ground.”
“I didn’t make it, Christ brought me to this place,” Phillips added of his survival.
“Satan lied to me. He convinced me to pour out my water bottle to reduce my pack weight. He almost got his demonic wish and watched me die,” Phillips said in another video describing the incident posted on Truth Social in 2025.
Turmoil inside FEMA
Since Phillips started working at FEMA in December, he has clashed with other political leaders at the agency — particularly those pushing to shrink FEMA’s workforce and tighten control over its spending and day-to-day work at the direction of former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and her deputy Corey Lewandowski, sources said.
Phillips repeatedly warned that those moves were putting Americans at risk, earning him respect from some senior agency staff who worry FEMA’s capabilities have been crippled in Trump’s second term.
Staff are seen working in the National Response Coordination Center at the FEMA headquarters on January 24 in Washington, DC.
Al Drago/Getty Images
For months, those senior staffers have argued that despite Phillips’ checkered past and history of controversial, conspiratorial statements, he has been the most reasonable and trusted political appointee inside the agency. Phillips, they said, was one of the few willing to push back and protect his team.
“It’s straight up Kafkaesque,” one senior FEMA official said. “At some level I’m sure my colleagues and I are just numb to the absurdity of the string of leaders we’ve had in the last year.”
As FEMA’s acting director, Evans, on the other hand, was largely seen as someone closely aligned with Noem and Lewandowski. Evans played a key role in their sweeping cuts and strict approval processes, which stifled agency functions and kept billions of dollars in grants and disaster aid backlogged at FEMA, frustrating lawmakers and state officials across the country as well as agency staff.
After CNN’s story ran, career FEMA leaders found themselves in an unusual spot — weighing comments they found alarming and absurd against the fear that losing Phillips could make things worse for the agency. Some joked about it. Some shrugged and moved on.
“Yes, it’s hard to trust the judgment of someone who said they teleported and then doubled down on it,” said another senior official. “But he seems to really care about people, which I really appreciate. And I think he cares about readiness for hurricane season.”
Senior officials have said for months that FEMA is no longer the agency that Trump inherited 15 months ago. Workforce reductions, a mass exodus of senior leaders, and confusion over the agency’s murky future have left many insiders warning that the administration is ill-prepared for a major multistate disaster, the likes of which the current Trump administration has not yet faced.
FEMA’s future, they say, hangs in the balance, with the bizarre Phillips saga at the center of the turmoil.
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