Steve Bannon's White House colleagues can't believe what they're reading tonight — and here's the twist: neither can Bannon.

The White House chief strategist has told associates he never intended to do an "interview" with an editor at the American Prospect, a left-wing publication.

to do an "interview" with an editor at the American Prospect, a left-wing publication. Bannon has told associates that he admired the author's stance on China , and so called the journalist, Robert Kuttner, on Tuesday, to discuss his piece. Apparently Bannon never thought that the journalist might take his (very newsworthy) comments and turn them into a story. It's Anthony Scaramucci all over again (minus the curse words.)

, and so called the journalist, Robert Kuttner, on Tuesday, to discuss his piece. Apparently Bannon never thought that the journalist might take his (very newsworthy) comments and turn them into a story. It's Anthony Scaramucci all over again (minus the curse words.) The result is not good for Bannon, who is already under pressure, with colleagues lined up against him and a president who agrees with him ideologically but tells associates he thinks Bannon is a leaker.

Here's what one of Bannon's colleagues — somebody who's not an enemy of his — told me after reading the piece: "Since Steve apparently enjoys casually undermining U.S. national security, I'll put this in terms he'll understand: This is DEFCON 1-level bad."

Here are some things that Bannon's colleagues tell me bother them about the interview — an article that appears to be so well-read that it's crashing the American Prospect's servers:

The liberal journalist Bannon called — Robert Kuttner — is no friend of Trump's. As Kuttner writes, "I'd just published a column on how China was profiting from the U.S.-North Korea nuclear brinkmanship, and it included some choice words about Bannon's boss. 'In Kim, Trump has met his match,' I wrote. 'The risk of two arrogant fools blundering into a nuclear exchange is more serious than at any time since October 1962.'"

— Robert Kuttner — is no friend of Trump's. As Kuttner writes, "I'd just published a column on how China was profiting from the U.S.-North Korea nuclear brinkmanship, and it included some choice words about Bannon's boss. 'In Kim, Trump has met his match,' I wrote. 'The risk of two arrogant fools blundering into a nuclear exchange is more serious than at any time since October 1962.'" Bannon undercut the president's stance on North Korea: "Contrary to Trump's threat of fire and fury, Bannon said: 'There's no military solution [to North Korea's nuclear threats], forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don't die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don't know what you're talking about, there's no military solution here, they got us."

He openly talked about his internal fights with colleagues: "That's a fight I fight every day here," he said. "We're still fighting. There's Treasury and [National Economic Council chair] Gary Cohn and Goldman Sachs lobbying."

He talked about changing personnel in a way that made him sound like the president: "I'm changing out people at East Asian Defense; I'm getting hawks in. I'm getting Susan Thornton [acting head of East Asian and Pacific Affairs] out at State."

On big question: As one of Bannon's colleagues — again, somebody who is generally sympathetic to him — asked me after reading the piece: "What will Kelly do when he sees this?"

Bottom line: The piece gives Bannon's enemies ammunition at a time he's extraordinarily vulnerable. They've been saying he's a leaker, a self-promoter, "President Bannon," etc. This interview plays right into their hands.