The wealthy eye-doctor pal of Sen. Robert Menendez threatened to “make trouble” for the US Commerce Department through his “politically influential friends” if he did not get help with a troubled business project, it emerged at his bribery trial on Monday.

Dr. Salomon Melgen — who is on trial for bribery alongside Menendez in Newark federal court — made the threatening comments through a lawyer at a 2012 meeting, according to Commerce staffer Sam Smith. The lawyer set up the meeting to pressure Commerce Dept. officials to help Melgen with a costly contract dispute, Smith said.

“He was very aggressive and threatening and constantly brought up the fact that he could make trouble for the department and he could be a bull in the Commerce Dept.’s china shop,” Smith told jurors about the meeting with Melgen’s lawyer, Elio Muller.

“He stated that Dr. Melgen had politically influential friends and they could cause a lot of problems for Commerce Dept. if Dr. Melgen didn’t think he was being served well,” Smith added.

When asked who Muller was referring to when he spoke of Melgen’s “politically influential friends,” Smith didn’t hesitate to say Menendez, a senior senator from NJ who stands accused of accepting bribes from Melgen in exchange for official favors.

The government claims Melgen, 63, doled out gifts — including free private jet flights and campaign contributions — to the Democratic senator in exchange for help getting visas for the ophthalmologist’s foreign girlfriends, among other perks.

In this case, Melgen wanted Commerce’s help enforcing a contract he had with the Dominican Republic over his port security business, ICSSI, the feds said.

If resolved, Melgen stood to make upward of $100 million, the feds have said.

The government has said it will show that after Melgen’s efforts with the Commerce Dept. failed, he turned to Menendez.

In exchange, Melgen gave Menendez $60,000, including $20,000 for Menendez’s legal defense fund and $40,000 benefiting Menendez reelection campaign, prosecutors have said.

Menendez and Melgen argue that any gifts and favors exchanged were the result of their decades-long friendship — not bribes.​