Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd Blankfein said President-elect Donald Trump probably won’t be a dangerous leader, according to an interview in German newspaper Handelsblatt.

Asked whether Trump will pose a threat, Blankfein responded “I don’t think so,” and called him a “smart guy.” The Republican’s campaign rhetoric included calls to build a wall along the Mexican border, threats to punish companies that send jobs overseas and stop Muslims from entering the country.

Goldman Sachs will benefit if Trump succeeds in stimulating economic growth, Blankfein told the newspaper in story on its website Thursday.

“Mr. Trump may turn out to be a much better president than anyone else might have been in that place,’’ said Blankfein, 62, chairman and chief executive officer of the New York-based investment bank. “He’s just less of a known quantity as a politician.”

Blankfein expressed optimism about the next president, even after politicians scapegoated his company during the tumultuous campaign. Blankfein, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton, said the criticism didn’t bother him.

“That was the rhetoric in the heat of the political battle,” he said. “I didn’t take this personally.”

Blankfein said he’d consider joining the Trump administration, but added that no one has reached out to him and he didn’t expect that to change.

Goldman Sachs shares climbed 2.2 percent to $240.69 at 2:51 p.m. in New York, the highest since 2007. The stock has gained 33 percent since the November election, the best performance in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.