German president Christian Wulff personally called the editor of Bild, the country's top-selling newspaper, last month and threatened legal action if it published a story on a private home loan he received at cheap interest rates.
Bild confirmed media reports today that the head of state had left a message on its chief editor Kai Diekmann's voice mail in which he threatened the paper with legal action and expressed outrage about its plans to publish the story.
The paper said Mr Wulff had called back days later to apologise for the "tone and content" of the voice message, without giving further details.
Mr Wulff, a conservative ally of chancellor Angela Merkel, has faced intense pressure from German media to step down since Bild reported in mid-December that he misled lawmakers in his home state of Lower Saxony over his ties to a wealthy businessman whose wife gave him the €500,000 home loan.
Mr Wulff has since apologised for the loan scandal and received the backing of Dr Merkel and Germany's top parties.
But news that he intervened personally to prevent the Bild story from being published, all while on an official trip to the Gulf, could increase pressure on him, especially as he made a point of speaking out in favour of press freedom when he made his apology last month.
A spokesman for the Association of German Journalists (DJV) condemned Mr Wulff's actions.
The German president's role is largely ceremonial, but Mr Wulff's problems risk reflecting negatively on Dr Merkel, who pushed for him to get the presidency, a post he has held for roughly 18 months.
The presidential office declined comment, saying the president generally did not comment on private conversations and that he valued press freedom.
Reuters