Bernie Madoff ran a massive Ponzi scheme, for decades. He promised high, consistent returns on investments. The scheme relied on money from new investors to pay out returns to existing ones. In 2008, when many investors tried to withdraw their money, the scheme unraveled.
All of his collaborators in his company realized the train wreck. But they knew if they didn’t continue with the lying/scamming, a lot of their colleagues would lose their jobs. So the absolute honest people left, but the morally grey stayed.
I think it’s like that with Trump (and Musk). Trump still employs a LOT of people - everything from managers to gardeners. And in his ranks are people who don’t want this sinking ship fail. The result is that there are competent people who, because they don’t want “innocent” people to suffer, like kitchen staff or gardeners, they’re good at their jobs and unfortunately, that puts money into Trump’s pocket.