If I use a larger bonsai pot, can I still make the tree and the trunk larger over time?

The short answer is yes. But i does depend on the species and age of the plant as well as size of the pot in relation to size of the plant. It would grow much quicker in the ground.

Larger bonsai pot will make the tree develop faster. A normal deap pot even more. But as Geoff says, in ground will be the fastest way to develop trunk size.

The diameter of the tree has to get bigger. The tree rings may be a fraction of a millimeter but it has to get bigger. On the ground it may be a millimeter or more, and the bigger the pot the larger fraction of a millimeter it will grow.

The same for foliage, except that you can cut that back.