Red Bulls debutant and former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry opened the scoring for the hosts 25 minutes into the game at the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey on Thursday evening.
Spurs levelled just past the hour mark when Robbie Keane fired home from an Andros Townsend cross to the far post.
A 2-1 win was secured when Gareth Bale latched onto a poor back pass to beat Red Bulls keeper Greg Sutton with relative ease.
Spurs' next match in the tournament will be against Sporting Lisbon at the same venue on Sunday.
Spurs: Cudicini; Hutton, Walker, Corluka (Taarabt, h/t), Naughton (Townsend, h/t); Kranjcar (Rose, 70), Jenas, Huddlestone, Bale; Modric (Mason, 76); Keane.