WASHINGTON — Sometimes, you just get thirsty.

Never mind that you’re on national television, having hyped a midafternoon speech. Or that you’re the president of the United States, delivering the remarks from the Diplomatic Room in the White House.

And just set aside for a moment your past, snarky criticism of other politicians for sneaking a sip during a speech.

Whether any of that went through President Trump’s mind or not during an address to the nation on Wednesday afternoon, he clearly was parched. And so he stopped, after speaking for about 11 minutes, reaching down to his left for the water he expected to be there.

He came up dry.

“They don’t have water. That’s O.K.,” the president said, taking about a 20-second pause from his remarks extolling his own achievements during his recent visit to Japan. “What? No, it’s O.K.”