Defense secretary carefully avoids mentioning Confederate flag in order banning it from military bases

Defense Secretary Mark Esper seemingly took pains to avoid upsetting President Trump in his latest order.

Esper signed a memo Thursday night specifically listing flags that are allowed to fly at U.S. military bases and institutions. The Confederate flag is not among them, effectively barring it without an explicit ban on the divisive flag Trump has defended as a form of "freedom of speech."

The U.S. and individual state flags, flags of allied nations, the POW/MIA flags, and flags of military units are allowed to fly at bases, the memo outlines. "The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols," Esper said in the memo. The Associated Press characterized Esper's wording as a "way to avoid Trump's wrath" by not explicitly calling out the Confederate flag.

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Still, several military bases retain Confederate names, and while the U.S. Army has said it will consider changing them, Trump has shot that possibility down.