Prior to Donald Trump's November 2016 election, coverage of China on television news was relatively consistent, with CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all mentioning the country at roughly similar levels. In December 2016, mentions of China soared and have remained at 2-4 times their previous levels on Fox News, while CNN and MSNBC have decreased their coverage significantly.

Fox News has mentioned China over the past decade nearly twice as much as MSNBC.