King Charles III and Queen Camilla laid flowers at the Sept. 11 memorial before stopping by an urban farm, the New York Public Library, a business event and a gala.
Not since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, traveled to Washington after the Suez Crisis has a visit by the British monarch come at such a fraught point in Anglo-American relations.
The British royals are set to arrive on Monday for a visit hosted by President Trump, with a garden party, an address to Congress and a banquet on the schedule.
An internal Pentagon email, reported by the Reuters news agency, suggested Washington was reviewing options to penalize the two nations for insufficiently supporting the war in Iran.