ABC News ran a headline this week blaming rising prices at Dollar Tree on President Trump’s tariffs. It is a neat little story if you do not look too closely. Tariffs go up, prices go up, and the network gets to point a finger at the White House. But if you actually read Dollar Tree’s Q2 2025 earnings report, that narrative falls apart fast. According to their own filings, Dollar Tree’s gross profit rose 12.9 percent last quarter, climbing to $1.6 billion. Their gross margin, which measures what they keep after paying costs, did not shrink under the weight of tariffs. It grew, from 34.2 percent to 34.4 percent. That means they are pocketing more per sale than they were before. If tariffs were truly driving prices higher just to cover costs, those margins would be falling, not expanding. The truth is simpler and uglier. Dollar Tree is not raising prices because they have to. They are raising prices because they can. Tariffs make the perfect excuse. Companies hide behind the headline, consumers grumble and pay, and shareholders quietly cash the profits. It is not about survival. It is about strategy. And here in Eastern Kentucky, we feel it more than most. For a lot of families in Magoffin, Floyd, Johnson, Pike, and Martin counties, Dollar Tree is not just a store. It is where you buy the cleaning supplies, snacks for the kids, and school folders when money is already stretched thin. When prices jump from $1.25 to $1.75, it may not sound like much to Wall Street, but it hits hard when your paycheck is already eaten alive by groceries, gas, and utilities. The national news never tells that part of the story. ABC knows this. At least, they should. But they have built a storyline that pins the pain at the register on Trump’s tariffs while skipping over the inconvenient detail that Dollar Tree’s bottom line is healthier than ever. That is not journalism. That is narrative building. And when the national media runs with easy headlines instead of digging into the numbers, they leave communities like ours carrying the burden without understanding who is actually profiting from it. And where is the political leadership? Trump is not saying it because the point of tariffs is to pressure imports and bring production home, not admit that retailers are using them to squeeze extra dollars from shoppers. The other side is not saying it either because blaming corporate opportunism does not score the same political points. So the public is left with a convenient scapegoat while the real story, the quiet and calculated profiteering, slips by without much attention. This is why people here lose trust. We are not blind. We see the prices climbing faster than wages. We know when we are being played. ABC wants you to think this is about tariffs. Dollar Tree’s own numbers prove otherwise. Stewardship means telling the truth even when it is uncomfortable. Tariffs might add pressure at the edges, but these price hikes are about profit, not necessity. Until we start calling that out, until we stop letting headlines become shields for corporate strategy, the same story will keep repeating and the same people will keep paying the price. And in towns like ours, where choices are fewer and dollars stretch thinner, we will feel it first and we will feel it hardest. ~CA OpEd: The preceding information does not necessarily reflect the views of Appalachia Insider as an organization. Disclaimer: This article was originally released in September of 2025. #AppalachiaInsider #EasternKentucky #DollarTree #Tariffs #CostOfLiving #CorporateProfits #MediaAccountability #KentuckyFamilies