For his activities, he received the title of "Savior of the Fatherland" and was one of the contenders for the royal throne at the Zemsky Sobor of 1613.

He was dissatisfied with the policy of Vasily Shuisky and in December 1608 he joined the army of False Dmitry II.

After the death of False Dmitry II, Trubetskoy enters into negotiations with Prokopy Lyapunov on the organization of the first rebellion to liberate Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian occupiers and the «Seven Boyars».

After the split of the militia, Dmitry remained at the head of a few noble detachments and Cossack “camps” near Moscow (together with Ivan Zarutsky).

In the fall of 1612, with an agreement on “unity”, he headed (together with Prince Pozharsky and Minin) the combined military force and the Zemsky government.