Why "Mr. Trump" ..." and "Mr." Obama ... after they became president?

I think it’s just a term of endearment. Respect.

Because they are no longer President. The United States does not have a monarch or a lifetime position.

Other offices have multiple people in them at any given time. There are fifty Governors, for instance, and so the recipient is recognized by that title after leaving office. But there is only one President at a time.

Trump is still president,

Yes, but President is the office, not them.

@zenvelo I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. I think @flo is saying why are they often referred to as Mr Trump or Obama while still in office rather than President Trump or Obama.

Is that what you’re asking @flo ? I’ve wondered that too.

In the media the journalists are referring to The President in the third person in a story… so they will refer to him in various ways so who they are talking about is clear to the listener.

You’ll hear:
Donald Trump
President Trump
Trump
Mr. Trump

These are not forms of address… for which there are rules. In direct address a president is addressed as

Mr. President

His given name or surname is not used in his presence. Source

Standard protocol

It use to be President or former President before their name but Republicans refused to call President Obama, President. So tit for tat. He was called Obamer, or a bunch of different name but they didn’t like the word President in front of his name and thought he didn’t deserve it even though he won fair and square and even won the popular vote.

So no we have a President who didn’t seem to win fairly and didn’t even win the popular vote and has done all he can to diminish the office that he serves. So it’s only fair he be treated as he treated President Obama. Which plenty of times he didn’t call President either.

Now as for the media; Trump likes to call them fake. Well since he is a fake President, it’s only fair they not call him President. If a guy came to my home to fix my plumbing and he made matters worse, I wouldn’t care that he is called a plumber. I would tell people he is anything but a plumber. Titles must be earned and I don’t mean by going to school or being voted for. I mean, you should do the job you were hired for. A bad doctor is called a quack or a scam artist. Titles of any type should be treated the same.

Political correctness and good manners.

The New York Times uses ‘President’ first in an article and ‘Mr.’ after that.

I believe it’s common throughout the industry.

To answer your question @janbb yes, and more. In other countries once they are no longer President, Prime Minister etc. they are referred to as the ex President…., In United States, while they are in office or not, whether they are great President or horrid, they have (until lately) always been referred to, not just addressed, and not just in the begining of a newsreports but throughout the newsreport , it’s as President whoever, rightly or wrongly. I don’t know how that would be right since it’s an inaccurate info.

…When they are addressed it’s always Mr. President, so my OP wasn’t about addressing them.

@Pandora But just because Trump is calling them fake news it doesn’t mean they have to do that. They are all supposed to be a trusted professional outlets Not all readers are informed enough to know what so and so means by such and such. Some are just starting to learn who is president, some people are starting to learn English by listening to watching, reading, the media.