[Grammar] the head of versus head of

[Flogger]

Hello,

I want to know why "the" is removed from some texts for describing the position of a person. for instance, what is the difference between "Donald Trump, the president of the US" and "Donald Trump, president of the US"?

My next question is about the meaning of "Missionary Order".

Father Olivier Maire, 60, head of the Montfortain Missionary Order at Saint-Laurent-sur-Sevre, was found dead in a room of the abbey.

 

[Tarheel]

Sometimes "the" is optional, and its presence or absence makes no difference in meaning.

 

[Tdol]

A Missionary Order is a religious organisation dedicated to missionary work. Plenty of religious orders are dedicated to other things.

 

[Tdol]

There are also questions about when it should be President with a capital letter. However, with rolling news such issues are rarely touched on as stories are mostly checked by spellchecks rather than demanding and pedantic journalist supervisors. Grammatical and typographical precision are prices we pay for constant updates. (Speaking as a person known to make the odd - aka repeated - typo.)