After serving in several positions as an agent of the nobility, Trolle was elected as a land commissioner in
Zealand in 1638. He became a member of the Admiralty Court in
Bremerholm in 1639. In 1643, when the
Torstensson War started, he served as a general provisioning commissioner until the spring of 1645, when
Christian IV offered him the position of vice admiral. Trolle did not play a major role in the war as a naval officer. Although he was ordered to aid in the defense of the island of
Bornholm in June 1645, the island fell before his forces could participate, and his fleet and company were confined in the Copenhagen harbor. In August, the
Second Treaty of Bromsebro (
Brømsebrofreden) was signed and in September he participated in the exchange of ratifications in
Markaryd for which the fleet was unprepared. Christian IV was very angry at him for his attitude against his father-in-law, Holger Rosenkrantz, during the procession of nobles in 1646. In 1647, he was a member of a commission to investigate the financial condition. Then in August 1648, he followed
Frederick III to
Akershus Fortress and received the
Order of the Elephant (
Ridder af Elefantordenen,
R.E.), the highest order of
Denmark-Norway. In February 1650, he joined the commission to report on the navy but resigned as vice-admiral due to infirmity in January 1651. He heard cases for Hannibal Sehested and
Corfitz Ulfeldt, and in July was given a seat on the review commission to examine deliveries to Holmen. In 1655, he became a member of the newly established Admiralty. Trolle had been strongly considered for Statholder of Norway in 1651 after
Hannibal Sehested, and in 1656 he succeeded his brother-in-law
Gregers Krabbe to the position. He was appointed to
Akershus len (county) instead of
Roskilde. Lieutenant General
Jørgen Bjelke, commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army, was highly critical of Trolle's governorship due to his lack of support and inactivity during the
second war with Sweden (1658–1660). In 1660, Trolle was among those who was the most critical over
Frederick III's revolution to install himself as an absolute monarch. Rumors spread among the opposition that he had been beaten by a citizen of Copenhagen, because of his views. Later Trolle accepted absolute monarch, and became a member of the privy council, 13 October 1660. At the same time, he endured personal difficulties caused by Colonel Jørgen Løvenklaus. They had a violent disagreements in October, which led to interrogations by the Royal Commission. In March 1661, the Supreme Court acquitted Trolle of all Løvenklau's accusations and condemned his opponent to suffer as a liar. However, he complained that he was tried by a court, because of his nobel background. ==Decline and death==