McMaster receives ovation on final day at White House

Outgoing national security adviser H.R. McMaster received a hearty send-off on Friday as he left the White House for the final time.

A large crowd of staffers gathered outside the West Wing burst into applause when McMaster exited the building just before 4 p.m.

{mosads}The retiring Army general waved and shook hands with staff members as he walked toward his vehicle, accompanied by members of his family.

Photographers spotted Vice President Pence among the crowd who wished McMaster farewell.

President Trump ousted McMaster in mid-March, capping off months of tensions between the two men over policy and leadership style.

Trump met with McMaster and his relatives on Friday to say farewell. 

McMaster also met with his replacement, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, for their final transition meeting on Friday afternoon, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Bolton starts his new job on Monday.

At her press briefing earlier Friday, Sanders called the outgoing adviser “a terrific person” who advanced “the president’s ‘America first’ foreign policy.”

“His decades-long career in service of his nation is an inspiration to us all, and we know he will do well wherever he lands next,” she said. “The president wishes him well. He will miss working with him. But they will continue to be great friends and will no doubt be seeing a lot of each other in the years ahead.”