Mr Di Maio, who heads Italy’s coalition party Five Star Movement, praised President Trump’s tax cuts and spending and said Europe will follow over the next 10 years.
The Italian right-winger said: “The US economy is growing at four per cent with the expansive policies of Trump, which everyone said were wrong.
“He is expanding the deficit, lowering taxation and investing in infrastructure.
“I believe that over the next 10 years Europe will go in this direction because the United States is moving in this direction.”
Mr Di Maio made the comments in defence of his expansive budget which has caused clashes with EU officials who have ordered Italy to revise deficit goals.
He told the Financial Times he believed he could “reduce public debt with an expansive budget”.
Mr Di Maio added if that worked in Italy it will be spread across the whole of Europe.
And he attacked European politicians who have stuck to austerity policies which he called a “failed economic theory”.
He said: “There is a political class [in Europe] that in recent years has stuck with austerity policies, which certain individual countries have repeatedly broken.
“It is a political class committed to all this failed economic theory and they know it too but they can’t allow anyone to violate it because they’ve somehow supported it for 10, 20 years, for the whole period of the crisis.”
The comments came as the EU faced a backlash against their opposition to Italy’s budget from Spanish President Pedro Sanchez who said Brussels needs Italy in order to reform.
The Spanish leader said: “Spain needs Italy to face many challenges together… and the rest of Europe also needs them to reinforce and reform the EU.
“Italy should not remain on the sidelines, especially in view of Brexit.”
Meanwhile, Italian interior minister and fellow deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini hit back at the EU and refused to back down over his budget.
He called on Italians to take to the streets on December 8 in a show of unity against the bloc who have demanded Italy submit a new budget proposal over Rome’s plans to run the deficit at 2.4 per cent of GDP.
Mr Salvini said: “Nothing and nobody, no big or small letter will make us backtrack. Italy will no longer be a slave and will no longer kneel down.”
Today, tensions in the eurozone are expected to flare as finance ministers from the 19 euro countries will meet to discuss national budgets ahead of December’s summit of EU leaders.
This afternoon in Brussels, they are also expected to discuss deeper eurozone integration including new powers for the eurozone bailout fund and setting up a eurozone deposit guarantee scheme and progress is not expected to be smooth.